Source : Perth Now news
The final determination on a tax bill from more than 10 years ago could be delayed once more as a notorious family fights to put off their own appeal.
The family of corrupt former Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid is still locked in a court battle with the tax office over a $30 million windfall from the sale of a coal project.
Eleven members of the family or their spouses, including Eddie’s wife Judith and son Edward Jr, simultaneously appealed a 2014 tax office decision that they owed tax on the money earned from the sale of the family farm to a coal company.
However, the matter has been delayed for more than a decade to allow the numerous corruption and criminal inquiries against members of the family to conclude.
Family patriarch Eddie Obeid and son Moses were jailed in 2021 for seven and five years respectively for conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office related to the corrupt deal.
The duo are not party to the tax proceedings.
With the tax appeal hearing due to finally begin at the end of August, the family have now sought to delay the proceedings, with their latest solicitor having only been in the case for a month.
That lawyer is Eddie’s longtime criminal solicitor, Michael Bowe, who admitted in the Federal Court on Tuesday to being out of his depth.
“I’ve stepped into the breach … I’m somewhat of a stopgap lawyer for them,” Mr Bowe said.
“I certainly would not want to be carrying forward a commercial matter.”
Mr Bowe applied to vacate the hearing dates, saying there was little chance of him being able to adequately prepare new counsel.
“The parties have been negotiating for some time, those negotiations have now hit a brick wall and are at an end,” he said.
Justice Geoffrey Kennett refused the request due to it lacking an affidavit in support and ordered a hearing on any such application to be heard on August 13.
The tax office ordered the payment of income tax plus penalties on at least $30 million that was paid to the Obeids as part of a coal deal involving their farm.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption found in 2013 that Eddie and his son Moses had corruptly arranged with former Labor mining minister Ian Macdonald to create a coal tenement over the farm.
The Obeids ran their finances through a series of trusts which could be labelled “shams”, ICAC found.
“Certain family members drew upon trust funds for everyday living expenses with the payments being treated as loans rather than taxable distributions,” the corruption watchdog found.
Edward Jr argued in the notice of appeal filed in 2014 that profits gained from the sale were not “ordinary income” and therefore should not be included in the taxable income of the family trust.
Eddie Obeid, 82, was released to parole in August 2025 after serving three years and 10 months. Moses was paroled in 2024.
Former Labor mining minister Ian Macdonald, who was also found guilty over the same conspiracy, is eligible for parole in January.
