Senator KNOWLES (6:50 PM) —Tonight I wish to disclose certain unusual property transactions in Edmonson Park, Sydney, involving key backers of the Labor Party Right. In late 1997, Ms Dobromilla Seigl wanted to sell land which she owned in Edmonson Park, Sydney, for around $650,000. In early December 1997 she received a telephone call from a man claiming to be named Anthony Contervento. He offered $800,000 for the land, provided that the land transfer could be concluded swiftly.

It appears that Ms Seigl had her suspicions about the deal. She overheard Mr Contervento talking on one occasion to people on the other end of the telephone in Arabic, not Italian. Also, all negotiations for the sale of the land were carried on via a mobile telephone. The one time that Ms Seigl tried to contact Mr Contervento on a landline, it turned out to be an answering machine at a business owned by Mr Karl Kazal. Mr Kazal comes into this issue again a little later on. Despite her apprehensions about the propriety of the deal, Ms Seigl liked the price offered and, on 12 December 1997, the property was sold to Mr Contervento for the sum of $800,000.

So what is the problem with this? The problem is that Mr Anthony Contervento does not exist. Just look at the spelling of the name: C-o-n-t-e-r-v-e-n-t-o. Clearly someone with no knowledge of Italian has made it up. Recent inquiries have been made about the existence of Mr Contervento. He was known as Ray Kazal, but he changed his name in December 1997 to Anthony Contervento. In January 1999 he again changed his name—this time to Jimmy Kazal. Six days after the sale to the non-existent Mr Contervento, on 18 December 1997, the Zayad Bin Sultan al-Nahayan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation Ltd—ACN 081 093 629—was formed. Its founding directors were Karl Kazal, Tarek Kazal and Assam Alrahmah. The latter was a businessman in the United Arab Emirates. Now here comes the interesting bit: on 30 December 1997 the non-existent Mr Conter vento sold the property to the foundation for $1,419,000.

Senator Ian Macdonald —What?

Senator KNOWLES —That is a very good question, Senator Macdonald. That represents a capital gains profit to the non-existent Mr Contervento of $619,000 in the space of 18 days. Not a bad little earner for a supposedly legitimate business transaction, was it? Then, in mid-February 1998, Karl Kazal spoke to Elders Real Estate about the sale of the adjoining property—lot DP 389866. One wonders who is going to be buying what in that transaction and one wonders whether any tax is going to be paid or whether the money will just disappear, as it appears to have done in this case.

So what does this all mean? There are only two possible reasons for one member of the Kazal family to buy a property and then a few days later sell it to a supposedly charitable trust controlled by two other members of the Kazal family: either the Kazals are ripping off the trust that they control or they are laundering money. If we assume that they are not ripping off a trust that they control themselves, then the question is: why are the Kazals laundering money?

Who is this shadowy friend of the ALP Right, Mr Karl Kazal? Is it the same Karl Kazal who was behind the stacking of 450 people into Lakemba Day Branch at the behest of Labor MP Tony Stewart? Who is this mate of the Labor Party? Is this the same Karl Kazal who got $2 million from the Labor-friendly Sydney Cove Authority to redevelop two properties that his company owned in The Rocks, including the new Vault nightclub? Who is this mate that the ALP Right uses to stack out its branches? Is it the same Karl Kazal who, for his efforts in helping to stack out Lakemba Day Branch, got $45,000 in state government funds for the Lebanese Muslim Association Sports Club? There are many questions that need to be answered in this sad and sorry tale, and I certainly hope that the Labor Party comes clean in disclosing the answers.