Parliamentary Intrigues in Corridors of Power: Nigel Lake

“When two brothers fight a stranger reaps their harvest.” 
~ Slavic Saying 

No one is better qualified to write about parliamentary environment than my former boss, Dr Russell Cope. For over 30 years he was the Parliamentary Librarian of the New South Wales Parliament, and generations of parliamentary officers and students of Parliament have found his writings of great interest. Anybody can write a story about the parliamentary rituals, but only a great observer can consistently distill something profound from the stuff of everyday life at Parliament.
Parliamentary Culture [Blog -City] 

“Only monarchs, crown employee, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to use the editorial ‘we' ...

As long as the institution has only few bad apples rather than the entire barrel or orchard rotten then all reality is not lost ...

[Travelling back in time] Perth parliamentarian Nigel Lake was arrested yesterday on suspicion of intention to commit a violent offence.

Police say they spotted the Deputy Clerk of the Legislative Council on the night of February 17 on foot and carrying a baseball bat near the home of his boss, the Clerk of the Legislative Council, Nigel Pratt. Lake was dressed head-to-toe in black, wearing a hoodie, balaclava and latex gloves when police patrolling the suburb of City Beach stopped him on Drabble Road. Lake was also allegedly in possession of a tracking device.

Further investigations have led police to present Lake with charges of possessing a controlled weapon and a disguise intended for use in connection with committing an offence.

Lake, who had been Acting Clerk until Nigel Pratt was appointed, has been suspended from his $166,216-a-year job pending an appearance in the Perth Magistrates Court on March 18. The alleged potential victim, Nigel Pratt, stepped into the position of Clerk of the Legislative Council after a lengthy tenure in Tasmanian Parliament and is currently on a salary of $216,138.  Antonino Tati
Nigel Lake pleads not guilty

One rumored exchange says Churchill disliked her being in parliament, saying that having a woman there was like being intruded upon in the bathroom. Astor replied, “You’re not handsome enough to have such fears.”

Mr Lake was charged with a number of offences after allegedly being found in City Beach wearing a balaclava as a disguise, carrying a baseball bat, and using a tracking device.
It is understood he was near the home of his boss, Nigel Pratt.
Parliamentary staff intrigues - Nigel Lake to lose job as deputy clerk off legislative-council

A familiar anecdote around NSW Parliament had the viscountess Astor in a disdainful state of her prime minister. She says, “If I were your wife, I’d poison your coffee.” Churchill replies, “If I were your husband, I’d drink it.”

Parliament is a place where INFORMATION IS POWER  - In WA Rayner tipped off the then Clerk of the Legislative Council, Laurie Marquet.IN a rare public defence, the clerk of NSW Parliament Russell Grove denies he tipped off Labor Minister Milton Orkopoulos in the child sex scandal … THE clerk of the NSW Parliament Russell Grove has issued a rare public defence, denying he tipped off convicted paedophile Milton Orkopoulos and defending his role in the sacking of whistleblower Gillian Sneddon.  
PR of parliamentary spheres.   Story from the Bear Pit ...

Add into the mix, that the friend is the recently, quickly resigned Legislative Council Clerk of Parliaments, Laurie Marquet, now on his death bed and charged with having siphoned off $227,000 of parliament’s money into a bogus law firm he created, as well as drug possession. Or, as Ms Rayner viewed it in evidence our committee tabled, Laurie knows he’s been caught “with his hands in the till and drugs on his person.” It was in fact the case that Marquet’s telephone calls were being intercepted by the CCC, and as a result the CCC intercepted a call by the Acting Commissioner in early August, arranging to visit Marquet. From that date, the previously frequent and unguarded calls by Marquet on his mobile phone ceased. This raised a suspicion that he had been warned. Getting away with murder ; Laurie Marquet ; Laurie Marquet | Facebook 

Producers of real crime television hit Underbelly  have approached the NSW Parliament for permission to shoot scenes for the new series within the Legislative Chamber. The Daily Telegraph has learned that representatives of the show approached the parliament last Friday, the day that Michael McGurk was murdered. The new show will cover the period of the Wood Royal Commission into corruption in the NSW Police force Underbelly producers ask to film new series in State Parliament ; THEIR timing is impeccable 

Website Fraud

The words we learn mostly come in under the radar, get filed, and then pop out obligingly when we need them. Sometimes, however, we're very conscious of a new arrival and, especially so, the first time we use it... "Well, it's always been a bit strange and it's never entirely natural is it? I don't know what the word is but natural doesn't fit," Clarke chuckles down the line from his home in southern England. "Still it was not a place for  a shrinking violet." A man of his words: Biggest stone hits The Glass House 

The spectre of David Draper and Alan Beverstock is spreading over Parliament House. Librarian Mark D'Arney killed himself after blowing the whistle on the discount sale of 3000 historic books from the State Parliament's library March 2004; Parliamentary embezzler blows whistle on MPs ; The view from the other side— Parliamentary consumers 

Parliamentary Theatre of absurd

Peter W C is in PNG And exposes parliamentary staff fraud

‘I walk in with ten more facts than the minister, and I survive’
Mandarin, 10/8/15. Ministers tend to see departmental heads as their principal advisers — but there’s a whole lot more to it than that, argued Finance’s Jane Halton and NSW DPC’s Blair Comley at the ANZSOG conference. Finding the right skills and leadership style is challenging, and ministers don’t always help.

Coda 

 Former NSW crime commission intel boss Mark Standen