Wife of new NSW Nationals leader accused of breaking donation laws
John Barilaro with daughter Sofia and wife Deanna, after being sworn in as Deputy Premier. Photo: AAP
John Barilaro has been forced to dismiss claims about his alleged involvement in illegal political donations in his first Question Time as the NSW deputy premier.
Under questioning from Labor MPs, the freshly minted NSW Nationals leader was asked about whether he had accepted any political donations from “a property development company”.
“All donations for candidates are made through our party organisation and as far as I know they deal with this particular matter,” Mr Barilaro responded.
“And as far as I know, I’m not sure what they are referring to”.
The Labor opposition says it has obtained documents which allegedly show that Mr Barilaro’s wife Deanna made political donations to the Nationals while she was the director of a development company.
It’s claimed the donations, which were made on two separate occasions in 2014 and 2015, were valued at $8810.
Mrs Barilaro became director of two companies, Kotsobola Group and Euro Partners in 2012, after Mr Barilaro resigned to become the MP for Monaro.
“It appears from electoral returns lodged that Deputy Premier John Barilaro and/or the National Party have received donations from a prohibited donor,” deputy opposition leader Michael Daley told AAP on Wednesday.
“We tried to get information about this serious issue from the deputy premier in NSW Parliament.
“As usual the government was ducking and weaving and refusing to answer the question.”
Mr Barilaro’s office declined to comment on the matter on Wednesday, saying any questions should be referred to the NSW Nationals’ head office.