Andrew Cornwell

Andrew Stuart Cornwell (born 29 December 1969) is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from the 2011 election until 2014, representing the electorate of Charlestown. He was elected as a Liberal Party candidate, and represented that party until 6 August 2014, when he moved to the parliamentary crossbench and sat as an independent after the Independent Commission Against Corruption heard evidence that Cornwell may have breached electoral funding laws.[1][2] After earlier announcing that would not contest his seat at the next state election,[3] on 12 August 2014 Cornwell resigned from parliament with immediate effect[4] triggering the 2014 Charlestown by-election.[5][6]

Andrew Cornwell
Member of the New South Wales Parliament
for Charlestown
In office
26 March 2011 – 12 August 2014
Preceded byMatthew Morris
Succeeded byJodie Harrison
Majority10.2 points
Personal details
Born
Andrew Stuart Cornwell

(1969-12-29) 29 December 1969
Glen Innes, New South Wales
NationalityAustralian
Political partyIndependent (2014)
Other political
affiliations		Liberal (2011–2014)
Spouse(s)Samantha Brookes
ChildrenThree
ResidenceWarners Bay, New South Wales
ProfessionVeterinarian

Early years and background

Cornwell is a veterinarian with a practice located in Cardiff, New South Wales. He is married with three children and lives in the Lake Macquarie suburb of Warners Bay.[7]

State politics

In 2011, Cornwell contested the normally safe Labor seat of Charlestown in the Hunter Valley.[8] He defeated Labor incumbent Matthew Morris with a swing of 25.2 per cent and winning the seat with 59.9 per cent of the vote on a two party preferred basis. The swing was all the more remarkable since the seat had been in Labor hands since its creation in 1971.[9] In parliament, Cornwell was appointed the government's chief whip in the Legislative Assembly.[2]

On 6 August 2014, a hearing of the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) revealed that Cornwell had received $10,000 in illegal donations from Newcastle Lord Mayor Jeff McCloy. Following this revelation, Cornwell resigned from the Liberal Party and moved to the crossbench as an independent pending the result of the inquiry.[10] Cornwell has said that before the 2011 election, McCloy, a prominent developer in Newcastle, met him in McCloy's Bentley and gave him the money, which in turn was given to the Liberal Party.[2] Cornwell also admitted to the ICAC that his wife had received $10,120 from developer Hilton Grugeon, ostensibly for a painting given to the developer in 2010 which was worth much less. The money was used to pay Cornwell's PAYG tax.[11] On 8 August 2014, Cornwell announced that would not contest his seat at the next NSW election,[3] yet by 12 August he had resigned from parliament with immediate effect.[4] As an "explicit act of atonement" for the actions of Cornwell and others, the Liberals opted not to contest the ensuing 2014 Charlestown by-election,[5][6] which saw Labor reclaim the seat.

On 30 August 2016, the Independent Commission Against Corruption released its report into the investigation into illegal developer donations. It found that Cornwell had "Acted with the intention of evading laws banning political donations from property developers, and requiring the disclosure of donation" and also recommended that the Director of Public Prosecutions charge Cornwell and his wife with "giving false and misleading evidence"[12]

gollark: I've heard it said that it might be more effective for vegans/vegetarians to present not eating meat as an opportunity to do good people may not be aware of, instead of presenting eating meat as EVIL to people who're already doing it.
gollark: Apparently the cancer gets cancer and stops growing or something?
gollark: Fire extinguishers also use carbon dioxide and powder and stuff because water makes some fires worse.
gollark: Kind of like with Trump, how he constantly does bad things but everyone's just immunized to it.
gollark: Maybe people are just used to police being reported as terrible quite a lot? Which isn't entirely unreasonable as America has a lot of police so even a low % being bad means you can pick out a lot of issues.

References
  1. "Mr Andrew Stuart Cornwell (1969- )". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  2. Hasham, Nicole (6 August 2014). "Tim Owen and Andrew Cornwell stand down from Liberal Party after ICAC hearing". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  3. "NSW MP Andrew Cornwell to quit politics following ICAC allegations". The Australian. AAP. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  4. Nicholls, Sean (12 August 2014). "Newcastle MP Tim Owen and Charlestown MP Andrew Cornwell resign from NSW Parliament following ICAC donations inquiry". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  5. "NSW Premier Mike Baird apologises for Liberal Party after horror week at ICAC". Sunday Telegraph. Australia. 17 August 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  6. "Liberal Party apologises to NSW voters after more MPs resign over corruption allegations". The Sun-Herald. 17 August 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  7. "Andrew Cornwell". Member for Charlestown. Liberal Party. Archived from the original on 26 January 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  8. McMahon, Jeannette (28 March 2011). "Hunter's political landscape changes dramatically". 1233 ABC Newcastle. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  9. Green, Antony (5 April 2011). "Charlestown". NSW Votes 2011. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
  10. Gerathy, Sarah (6 August 2014). "Two NSW Liberal MPs stand aside from the party following ICAC revelations on campaign funding". ABC News. Australia. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  11. Whitbourne, Michaela; McClymont, Kate (7 August 2014). "Liberal MP Andrew Cornwell admits taking $20k from property developers: ICAC". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  12. http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/08/30/07/33/corruption-watchdog-reportedly-tells-former-nsw-liberal-mps-to-repay-illegal-donations
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Preceded by
Matthew Morris		 Member for Charlestown
2011–2014		 Succeeded by
Jodie Harrison
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