conroy apparently "knew of" allphones

From The Australian - Conroy apparently "knew of" allphones settlement. The Senator appears to be having a bad run lately!!!!

Stephen Conroy `knew of' Allphones settlement
Mitchell Bingemann From: The Australian April 06, 2010 COMMUNICATIONS Minister Stephen Conroy appears to have had advance knowledge that a multi-million-dollar settlement offer would be made to franchisees in a class action suit against mobile phone retailer Allphones.

After years of acrimony between Allphones and many of its retailers, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, which is representing 74 current and former Allphones franchisees, is expected to accept the settlement offer of $3 million plus costs when formalities are concluded by judge Lindsay Graeme Foster in the Federal Court today.

The ACCC launched class action proceedings against Allphones Retail, chief executive Matthew Donnellan, director and chief operating officer Tony Baker, and former national franchising manager Ian Harkin in August last year for allegedly breaching the Trade Practices Act by engaging in unconscionable conduct towards its franchisees, including the withholding of commissions and bonuses. Allphones and the executives have denied and contested the charges.

That same day in Mildura, Senator Conroy -- who was attending a Digital TV Switchover event in the small town -- boasted to one of the franchisees involved in the class action suit that a settlement offer had already been made to the ACCC, days before the offer was made known to the franchisees.

"Conroy absolutely knew before the franchisees that there was a settlement (offer). He said that the case wasn't going ahead and that there was going to be a substantial settlement on the table," Allphones franchisee Ron Wood told The Australian.

"At the time I informed Conroy that in a conference on Friday (March 19) the ACCC had nothing in front of them, and the case started this day, so someone must have been misleading him. Then a few days later I found out there was in fact a settlement (offer)."

It was not until Friday, March 26, three days after his chance encounter with Senator Conroy, that Mr Wood and the other franchisees were informed of the settlement offer.

Senator Conroy's office refused to say how the minister had advance knowledge of the settlement offer.

The ACCC said it would not comment on cases under way and declined to say if it was normal practise for ministers to have such close involvement with cases.

Mr Woods said Senator Conroy did not reveal how he knew of the settlement offer, but the minister did mention his friendship with Allphones chairman Tony Mitchell to Mr Wood during their conversation.

Although not involved in the class suit action, Mr Mitchell was chief executive of Allphones from 1999 to 2003.

The Australian could not reach Mr Mitchell for comment.

"Conroy said he was good mates with Tony Mitchell and the Allphones guys. He said they go back a long way," Mr Wood said.

Mr Mitchell was on the expert panel that advised dropping the original tender process to build the national broadband network, to salvage -- at $43 billion -- one of its biggest election promises.

On average, each expert panel member was paid more than $100,000 each for 10 months of work between March 2008 and January last year.

Late last year, Senator Conroy was embroiled in a scandal that followed the unadvertised appointment of former Queensland Labor MP Mike Kaiser to a $450,000 government relations job with the NBN Co, on Senator Conroy's recommendation.