THE POLL BLUDGER
New South Wales Legislative Assembly Election 2007

BLACKTOWN
Labor 24.9%

Blacktown covers suburbs to the north of the Great Western Highway about 30 kilometres west of the city centre. The redistribution has added nearly 6000 voters at Kings Park from Riverstone in the north and transferred 7000 around Grantham to Toongabbie in the east. The electorate was created in 1941 and has been won by Labor at every election except 1959, when an aberrant set of electoral boundaries pushed it into Sydney's northern outskirts. It was held by John Aquilina from 1981 to 1991, when the abolition of Wentworthville initiated a game of musical chairs among sitting Labor members. Aquilina was persuaded to stand for Riverstone, which had moved into the northern area of the old Blacktown, while Blacktown itself went to Wentworthville MP Pam Allan. The wheel spun again with the cut in parliamentary numbers in 1999, when Allan returned to the recreated Wentworthville (now being renamed Toongabbie) and Blacktown went to Paul Gibson (right), member for Londonderry since 1988.

Gibson is a former rugby league player for Manly (parliamentary profile: "Previously served in the entertainment industry for 20 years. Interests include people and sports.") who has become associated with the "Terrigals" sub-faction of the New South Wales Right. His 1988 preselection win came at the expense of future front-bencher Faye Lo Po, who later became member for Penrith from 1991 to 2003. Gibson quickly became renowned for the strength of his relationship with newly elected Liberal Premier Nick Greiner, with whom he regularly played squash. Other contacts included Louis Bayeh, a Kings Cross strip club owner and convicted criminal who Gibson publicly defended when he claimed corrupt police were trying to frame him on drugs charges. The two later fell out, and in April 1998 Bayeh told the Independent Commission Against Corruption he had provided Gibson with cash and goods worth $50,000. This allegedly included jewellery for Port Jackson MP Sandra Nori, who was revealed at ICAC to have been having an affair with Gibson while married to Senator John Faulkner, and a holiday to Fiji for them both. Gibson responded that he had paid for all the goods concerned, except for some clothing which he threw in a charity bin.

The matter got messier still when comments by corruption commissioner Barry O'Keefe at an unrelated ICAC function led Gibson to sue for defamation, which was settled with a payment of $85,000. Gibson also succeeded in having the Supreme Court compel O'Keefe to stand down from the case due to a "reasonable apprehension of bias". While Gibson was ultimately exonerated, assistant commissioner Jeremy Badgery-Parker wrote: "I find myself utterly unable to have any confidence whatsoever in the truth or reliability of anything said by Gibson when it conflicts with the evidence of any other witness, other than Bayeh". Gibson's exoneration nonetheless returned him to the mix of Labor MPs chasing the reduced number of available seats, to the displeasure of some who hoped that charges might force him to make way for homeless MPs Paul Whelan and Jim Anderson (respectively members for abolished Ashfield and St Marys). It had reportedly been "promised" to Gibson that he would be accommodated, but his prospects in Londonderry were damaged when the party's administrative committee shut down two branches due to branch stacking. His favoured option was Mount Druitt, held by Richard Amery of the arch-rival "Troglodytes" Right sub-faction. The various interlocking disputes were ultimately settled when Whelan agreed to contest the Liberal-held marginal Strathfield, with Anderson moving to Londonderry and Gibson accommodated in Blacktown.

Gibson's persistent influence in the face of adversity reportedly stems from two sources – the backing of the National Union of Workers, and his role as "an important conduit of donations from pubs to the party", as described by Imre Salusinszky of The Australian. In late 2003 Gibson emerged as a key figure in the caucus revolt against the government's pokies tax, and he publicly criticised Bob Carr's performance in early 2004. He has also found frequent occasion to criticise the government through his role as chairman of the Joint Standing Committee on Road Safety, which he resumed in May 2003 after being removed in 1999 when he was booked doing 79kmh in a 60kmh zone (to which he ultimately pleaded guilty after seven court appearances). Gibson was even mentioned as a potential nominee for a position in the ministry in August 2005 following the simultaneous departure of Bob Carr, Andrew Refshauge and Craig Knowles.

Another controversy erupted in November when Phil Koperberg, Labor's candidate for Blue Mountains, said Gibson was planning to leak an apprehended violence order taken out against him by his ex-wife Kate in 1987. The Daily Telegraph reported that Gibson was "believed to be the only political figure" with access to Kate Koperberg's order, as he had recently concluded a 10-year relationship with her. Koperberg accused Gibson of conducting a smear campaign against him which he described as "bordering on evil", although Gibson denied the allegations. This came five weeks after Gibson lost a defamation action against the Daily Telegraph over an article which he said accused him of being a travel rorter.

ASSESSMENT: Labor retain