$1000 for council officer 'was no bribe'

Sydney council officer given $1,000 wrapped up in a development plan she was
considering has told the corruption watchdog she thought the applicant was simply
"trying to be nice".
Diana Huang has admitted giving Ku-ring-gai engineering team leader Katherine Hawken
what she termed a "fortune happy money bag" of $1,000 in cash.
She had earlier given Ms Hawken a white-gold pendant worth $807.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is investigating whether the
cash was intended as a bribe, and whether Ms Hawken acted appropriately.
Video footage taken on June 2, tendered during the ICAC hearing in Sydney on
Thursday, shows Ms Hawken accepting an envelope containing the cash, allegedly
wrapped in the traffic management plan for a subdivision submitted by Ms Huang's
employer.
Ms Hawken, who was assessing the plan, notified her supervisor on the same day she
had been handed the cash.
When asked by Commissioner Jerrold Cripps what she thought when the gift was handed
over, Ms Hawken replied: "I didn't think it was to hurry up the traffic management
plan".
"I didn't think she was being trying to be sinister.
"I thought she was trying to be nice."
Ms Huang was employed between December 2007 and June 2008 by a company owned by Wing
Mak, in order to help him with a subdivision application.
Ms Huang told the hearing the money and the pendant were gifts because Ms Hawken had
been helpful throughout the process.
"Yes (I gave the gifts). Yes as a traditional Chinese way to give her a fortune
happy money bag," she said.
Another video tendered in court shows Ms Hawken, Ms Huang and Mr Mak meeting in
council.
During an excerpt played to the hearing, Ms Hawken asked Ms Huang about the purpose
of the gift.
Ms Huang responded: "Just a gift, yeah, like we say lucky money festival, yeah."
Mr Mak also denied the money was anything other than a thank-you gift.
"When (Ms Huang) told me she had no time to buy presents, then I knew it was cash,"
he said.
The commission also heard that Ms Hawken allegedly took five months to register the
pendant given to her on December 24, 2007.
Ms Hawken said the pendent, which Ms Hawken registered as a $40 gift, remained on
her desk because she was too busy to mention it.
"I thought it was a token gift and I didn't think it was valuable," she said.
"I put off doing it. I was busy and had lots to do."
While officers are allowed to keep gifts under $50, Ku-ring-gai council's gifts and
benefits policy states officers are "not to accept anything from an applicant to
council when ... involved in assessing or declining on their application".
Earlier, counsel assisting the inquiry, Marugan Thangaraj, said while independent
analysis showed appropriate decisions had been made by the council, questions
remained about Ms Hawken's actions.
"The evidence suggests that Ms Hawken may have taken steps which were unusual and
which resulted, or could have resulted, in the application being processed faster
than otherwise would have been the case," Mr Thangaraj said.
"Two of the issues to be addressed by the inquiry are why the presents were provided
and what, if anything, Ms Hawken did as a result."
Mr Cripps adjourned the hearing, with final submissions to be made by December 22
and a final report to be tabled in NSW parliament next year.