John Sidoti

Early career and background

The son of Italian immigrants, Sidoti was raised in Sydney's inner west and educated at De La Salle College, Ashfield and the Ryde College of TAFE where he studied hospitality. From 1992 to 2008, Sidoti ran a function centre in Five Dock together with his family, and then was a part-time fruit merchant.

Elected to Burwood Council in 2008, Sidoti served as mayor from 2009 up until the 2011 state election, when he stood down as mayor, remaining as a councillor.

Political career

At the 2011 state election, Sidoti was elected with a swing of 19.4 points, and won the seat with 66.7 per cent of the two-party-preferred vote. Sidoti's main opponent was mayor of the City of Canada Bay, Angelo Tsirekas, representing the Labor Party. At the 2015 state election, Sidoti increased his two-party-preferred margin by around 1.7 points. From 22 June 2011 to 6 March 2015, he chaired the Parliamentary Privileges and Ethics Committee and served as deputy co-chair of the Social Policy Committee. From 17 October 2015 to 23 January 2017, he was parliamentary secretary for Transport, Roads, Industry, Resources and Energy and, from 1 February 2017 to 23 March 2019, was the parliamentary secretary to Cabinet.

Following the 2019 state election, Sidoti was appointed Minister for Sport, Multiculturalism, Seniors and Veterans in the second Berejiklian ministry, with effect from 2 April 2019.

Corrupt conduct

On 17 September 2019, Sidoti stood down from his ministerial duties pending a potential investigation by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) into his property dealings. On 3 March 2021, ICAC announced its intention to conduct a public inquiry into those dealings. As a result, he resigned from the cabinet and moved to the crossbench as an independent. In July 2022, ICAC found that Sidoti had engaged in serious corrupt conduct by using his position to influence local councillors to benefit his family’s property interests. As of July 2022, the ICAC was now seeking advice whether to charge Sidoti with corruption.

References

References

1. (31 July 2019). "Minister for Sport, Multiculturalism, Seniors and Veterans". Hansard.
2. {{Cite NSW Parliament
3. (2 April 2019). "Government Notices".
4. (31 March 2019). "Premier announces new Cabinet". [[Premier of New South Wales]].
5. Han, Sophie. (2 April 2019). "Berejiklian's new massive cabinet sworn in amid peals of laughter". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
6. Saulwick, Jacob. (29 March 2011). "Grazie, signore – ALP dumped in Drummoyne". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
7. Green, Antony. (1 April 2011). "Drummoyne". [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]].
8. "Mr (John) Anthony John SIDOTI (1970 - )".
9. Sas, Nick. (31 March 2019). "Gladys Berejiklian says Liberal Party has no women problem as re-elected NSW Premier shuffles Cabinet". [[ABC News (Australia).
10. (2019-09-17). "John Sidoti steps down pending ICAC probe into property deal". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
11. Smith, Alexandra. (3 March 2021). "John Sidoti resigns from cabinet after ICAC launches public hearing". The Sydney Morning Herald.
12. (2 March 2021). "NSW MP John Sidoti joins crossbench after ICAC announces inquiry into property dealings". www.abc.net.au.
13. Cormack, Natassia Chrysanthos, Lucy. (2022-07-20). "Drummoyne MP John Sidoti found corrupt by ICAC".
14. Cormack, Natassia Chrysanthos, Lucy. (2022-07-20). "Drummoyne MP John Sidoti found corrupt by ICAC".