Corruption in issuance of NSW coal mining licenses inevitable, but issuance of a "first and only" license to grant law degrees to a Communist Party China linked entity perfectly normal -NSW ICAC

  by Ganesh Sahathevan 

Nine and others reported in 2013:

It was almost inevitable that coal mining licensing in NSW would be exploited because the system was so conducive to corruption, the state's watchdog says.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has slammed the department of resources licensing process, saying it would have been "inconceivable" for any other portfolio to have been so open to exploitation for the benefit of a select few.

It comes after the ICAC found earlier this year that former mining minister Ian Macdonald rigged a 2008 tender process for a coal licence in the Bylong Valley, which financially benefited the family of his then colleague Eddie Obeid

Then in 2018 former ICAC chief David Ipp was reported to have  said:

David Ipp, QC, formerly a judge of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), believes the New South Wales Government’s mining licence approval process is at risk of corruption, particularly given its handling of the Ridgelands coal mine renewal in the state’s Upper Hunter region.

“When a government goes to the trouble of creating an elaborate procedure for the granting of mining tenements and doesn’t respect its own laws it’s a recipe for corruption,” he told NSW paper Newcastle Herald.

“There is little point in creating this elaborate process if the government doesn’t comply and respect its own procedures. It becomes an illusion.”

On 20 December 2022. former NSW Labor mining minister Ian Macdonald faces a fresh prison sentence after being found guilty of misconduct in public office for bypassing a competitive process to give a lucrative coal licence.

Meanwhile NSW ICAC has remained silent about the issuance, and then renewal of a license to grant law degrees to the Communist Party China linked Zhu Minshen (recently deceased)  and his Top Education Group. Zhu described it as the "first and only" license to issue law degrees granted a private company that is not a university.  The license was renewed even after Zhu's involvement in the Sam Dastiyari scandal led to Dastiyari's resignation from the Senate. 

TO BE READ WITH 

Sunday, January 24, 2021

Zhu Minshen's law school has approval of TEQSA, the NSW LPAB (chaired by NSW Chief Justice Bathurst),but not certified by the Council Of Australian Law Deans -Inconsistency raises questions afresh about professional standards at the NSW LPAB, TEQSA and Law Council Australia

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

From left to right: Prof Eugene Clark, Hon George Brandis, Dr Minshen Zhu

In "Silent Invasion" Professor Clive Hamilton describes how Zhu Minshen and his Top Education Institute(and other Chinese entities) interfere in Australian politics.The section on Zhu and Top begins :
"Few people noticed, but the fishy smell around Zhu Minshen's Top Education Institute was noticeable a few years before it began wafting from the front pages of the newspaper (such as the AFR in 2013)".

In 2012 the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board , a statutory body chaired by the Chief Justice NSW and under the purview of the Attorney General NSW ,began the process that led to Zhu and his Top Group being granted the "first and only" license to issue law degrees granted a private company that is not a university.

The notoriety that Zhu and Top Group had gained since 2013,and especially in 2016 seems to have been ignored in the process of evaluating Zhu's application, despite the very high standards of probity the LPAB ,the Chief Justice and the AG profess for anyone seeking admission to practice in NSW.


It has also been reported by this writer that

Zhu Minshen's new Chinese website says the Law Council of Australia "officially approved" Top Education Institute's application to issue law degrees


Now it has been discovered that Zhu Misnhen's Top Education Group Law School, also known as the Sydney City School Of Law, is not certified by the Council Of Australian Law Deans and its Australian Law Schools Standards Committee.

The Australian Law Schools Standards Committee (ALSSC) is established under Standard 12 of the Australian Law School Standards. The ALSSC’s functions are to:
consider and determine applications from law schools for certification as compliant with the Standards; and keep the Standards under review and to propose to CALD amendments from time to time.

The ALSSC is comprised of eight committee members from both within and outside the law school sector.

A list of the Australian Law Schools that are certified as at 9 March 2020 is available here.

https://cald.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Certified-Law-Schools-as-at-9-Mar-2020.pdf

Readers can see for themselves from the PDF link above that Zhu Misnhen's Top Education law school is not among those listed as being certified by the CALD.

That Zhu Minshen's law school has been approved by TEQSA, the NSW LPAB which is chaired by NSW Chief Justice Bathurst),but not certified by the Council Of Australian Law Deans is an inconsistency that raises questions afresh about professional standards at the NSW LPAB, TEQSA and Law Council Australia.

END