SYDNEY CIVIC AFFAIRS

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 2 June 1928, Page 5

SYDNEY CIVIC AFFAIRS

ALLEGATIONS DENIED.

EX-ALDEKMAN’S EVIDENCE

NO MONEY RECEIVED. (UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION—BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH—COPYRIGHT.) (AUSTRALIAN PRESS ASSOCIATION.) SYDNEIY, June 1. i At the Royal Commission inquiring • into Sydney civic affairs, Mrs Green • denied that her home had been thor- : oughly renovated in 1926. She admit- , ted she had had some improvements I made, but could not remember ihe names of the firms who did the work. Witness also denied that she had a separate banking account in her maiden name. Witness, in reply to a question, said she had asked her husband whether he had anything to do with the £IO,OOO and he had said he was not mixed up with it. In reply to a further question witness said she might have thought there was “graft” in connection with the £10,600. I William Holdsworth, formerly an Merman of the City Council, gave eviMnce that he was an alderman in the City Council from 1918 until December .last year. He was an hotel-keeper, but owned no property and had accumulated no profits. He had only beeii able to make his income meet his expenditure. In reply to a question witness said his wife had acquired money principally out of his salary when he was a member of Parliament, and she also owned property. Witness denied that Mr Minot had ever given him a penny. In reply to a question by Mr Shaocl witness said he knew of the “graft” allegations, and declared they had been going on for the past thirty years, much more so when the Civic Reform Party was in powerin the council than when Dab our held the reins, but witness always kept himself clean and clear of suspicion. Witness also denied that he ever telephoned Mr Arnott and that he ever had a conversation with Air Arnot about money. It was a deliberate lie for Air Arnot to say witness asked him for £IOOO and that Air Arnot asked him to take £.500. The only reason he dan Id give for Air Arnot fabricating such a story was that Air Arnot wanted the money for himself. In reply to Air S'band, who asked whether Air Arnot had told witness that Mr Mating bail advised him not to make any payment to witness because witness would get his share with the others, witness replied, “Never in his life did he utter those words to me or anything like them.” In reply to further questions, witness said his idea was that Air Arnot represented to his firm that he had to pay out money and kept it himself. Witness added, “At the time we (meaning the Labour Party in the City Council), gave the contract to Babcock and Wilcox we could not have given the contract to anybody else. AVe dared not do iso. The Trades Hall would not have allowed it.” The inquiry was adjourned till Tuesday next.