Former NSW events minister ‘Sir Lunchalot’ jailed for 10 years

Ian Macdonald, one time NSW Minister for Major Events, has been jailed for 10 years and must serve at least seven years, having been found guilty of misconduct in public office in the NSW Supreme Court.

Macdonald, the former NSW Minister for Primary Industries and Mineral Resources, was convicted over the decision to grant a mining licence to a company run by former union boss John Maitland, who will spend at least four years behind bars.

The decision to grant the licence was made in 2008, when Macdonald was the NSW Minister for Primary Industries and Mineral Resources in the NSW Labor administration of Premier Morris Iemma.

In Court, Macdonald stated “I strenuously deny that I was engaged in any misconduct in the execution of my role as Minister for Mineral Resources.
Maitland, once the head of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), was found guilty of being an accessory.

Macdonald was well known in the tourism industry when he was NSW Minister for Major Events and head of former NSW Government agency Events NSW.

 In 2010, then NSW Premier Kristina Keneally controversially decided to relinquish control of Events NSW and hand it to Macdonald.

He became known as ‘Sir Lunchalot’ by the media and the NSW opposition of the time, due to his expenses claims for fine dining. The name made headlines in July 2009 when the Sydney Morning Herald published an article headed ‘The extraordinary reach of Sir Lunchalot’.

The article stated that Macdonald at that time was in charge of 58 government committees which employed more than 300 people and cost the taxpayer more than $1 million in sitting fees alone.

He later resigned from Parliament.

Macdonald has indicated he will appeal his sentence.

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