Driving Examiner Names Instructors
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday February 28, 1990
A confessed corrupt driving examiner has identified 37 driving instructors who he said made corrupt payments to him.
Mr John Smith, 50, of Port Macquarie on the North Coast, told the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) he was naming only those instructors he was absolutely certain had made the payments.
He said there were others who also might have made corrupt payments during his 10 years as a driving examiner.
Mr Smith confessed his corruption when giving evidence at the ICAC yesterday. He has also named an undisclosed number of his former workmates -including driving examiners and registry staff - who he said had accepted corrupt payments.
Mr Smith is only the second driving examiner to confess at the ICAC's long-running investigation into corruption in the system of issuing driver's licences.
He initially denied corrupt conduct but confessed after the ICAC was shown a secretly recorded videotape made with the assistance of a confessed corrupt former driving examiner and policeman, Mr Stephen Lennon, who has been indemnified from prosecution.
On the tape, he and Mr Lennon discussed "old times" and the corrupt network and at one stage mentioned he had made $1,500 in one week while working at Chullora motor registry.
Yesterday, Mr Smith admitted almost all of what he said on the 45-minute tape was correct, although the $1,500 was an exaggeration. The most he made in one week was $1,300, he said.
Mr Smith agreed Chullora was regarded by corrupt driving examiners as an extraordinarily lucrative registry.
He endorsed a remark made by a fellow examiner, Mr Vern Forsyth, who told Mr Lennon: "You can't beat f...ing Chullora."
The inquiry is continuing.
© 1990 Sydney Morning Herald
