ICAC recommends criminal charges

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has released its final report into corruption at Wollongong Council and is recommending that 11 people be charged with criminal offences.

The commission has asked the Department of Public Prosecutions to look at prosecuting the former Wollongong council planning officer Beth Morgan.

The commission found she abused her position to provide favours to developers with whom she was intimately involved.

ICAC also made corrupt conduct fndings against the developers Frank Vella and Bulent "Glen" Tabak, as well as senior council staff and former councillors.

The first ICAC report, released in March, questioned development consents granted by senior planner Ms Morgan to developers Frank Vellar, Glan Tabak and Michael Kollaris.

It also investigated alleged corrupt conduct by four ALP councillors, including former deputy mayor Kiril Jonovski.

It recommended the council be sacked.

The second report delivered a month later recommended suspension of a development application for the $100 million Quattro development.

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The New South Wales Greens say new concerns about the ICAC investigation into Wollongong Council are valid, after comments by standover man Ray Younan.

Mr Younan has said he had sources inside the ICAC team, who leaked sensitive information to him before the scandal was made public.

Mr Younan is currently living in Lebanon after he failed to appear before the inquiry in February. A warrant for his arrest has been issued.

Greens MP Sylvia Hale says her party's concerns will not be alleviated until there is a Royal Commission into the development process both in Wollongong and across New South Wales.

"I think there's been a failure to follow up on the activities of a number of people who have been persons of interest in the community but whose ... involvement in corrupt activities has not been properly investigated or brought to light," she said.

New planning laws 'reward developers'

The Greens says new planning laws passed through the New South Wales Parliament early today favour developers.

The party sought 94 amendments to the bill and say it missed being submitted to a parliamentary inquiry by one vote.

The Local Government and Shires Association says its happy with some concessions made by the Government.

But Greens MP Sylvia Hale says the legislation only extends the ALP's conflict of interest with political donations.

"It's the Government's reward to big developers for all the money they've poured into the NSW ALP campaign coffers before the last election," she said.

"I'm concerned that the bill will damage the state's environment and heritage."

Ms Hale says there is widespread community concern about the laws.

"They limit the rights of objectors who appeal against decisions and they transfer alot of the costs of administering an incredibly unwielding and confusing planning system onto council," she said.

Court overcrowding 'inviting violence'

The Federal Government has been told that overcrowding at Newcastle Family Court is creating a volatile situation that invites acts of violence.

Newcastle's family court services half of New South Wales and has one of the highest rates of security breaches in the country.

Nine years ago, a man stabbed his wife outside the court.

Member for Newcastle Sharon Grierson says every year security guards deal with clients threatening to kill people, or trying to bring in weapons, "from syringes, to screwdrivers, to knives".

She says a new building is urgently needed because the current one does not have enough courts for hearings or room to separate people caught up in acrimonious disputes.

"Everyone is mixed in together in a volatile situation and that's one of the reasons that the security risk is so high," she said.

"People have loitered and tried to attack each other."

Family Court of Australia chief executive officer Richard Foster says a recent national review of court facilities identified Newcastle as a top priority.

"The design of the court doesn't meet contemporary standards and needs changing because people just don't feel safe going to court," he said.

Family lawyer Judith Olsen says the court is too crowded to interview clients in private.

"They have to sit there with the other person walking up and down in front of them, or sitting in close proximity staring at them," she said.

"I've seen people who are obviously very, very disturbed, or very, very distressed attempting to intimidate them.

"It is not a dignified surrounding for people's matters to be dealt with."

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Quote: Once again this is a clear admission by the court of what acrimonious disputes, divorce and family separation cause in terms of domestic violence. Overcrowding always causes problems no matter where you go even in prison. But in a sense it wouldn’t matter where you put the next family court or even how you designed the facility because the 'mood' would always be the same. Perhaps it’s the very 'idea' that causes the problem and not the court, facilities or design so much because no other Family Court would be immune?

Question: What can be done to reduce acrimonious disputes, divorce and family separation? Wouldn't that help fix the problem too? Prevention is better than cure.