Milton Orkopoulos

Milton Orkopoulos
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Swansea
In office 27 March 1999 – 13 November 2006
Preceded by	Jill Hall
Succeeded by	Robert Coombs
Personal details
Born	(1957-07-22) 22 July 1957
Nationality	Australia
Political party	Australian Labor Party

Milton Orkopoulos (born 22 July 1957) is a former New South Wales state politician. A member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1999, Orkopoulos was appointed Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Minister Assisting the Premier on Citizenship in August 2005.

In November 2006, New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma dismissed him as a Minister and of a member of the Australian Labor Party after he was charged with child sex and other offences. The following week, he resigned as MP for the state electorate of Swansea. On 14 March 2008, Orkopoulos was convicted on charges relating to child sex offences and the supply of drugs. In May 2008, he was sentenced to 13 years in jail.

History

Early life

Orkopoulos briefly trained as a nurse before studying economics at the University of Newcastle. He went on to work for BHP and as an electorate officer for MPs Peter Morris, Don Bowman and Jill Hall. He married and had three children.^[1]

Political career

From 1995 until 1999, Orkopoulos represented the ALP on Lake Macquarie City Council. In March 1999, he was elected to represent Swansea in the Legislative Assembly for Labor, and joined the Socialist Left faction. In August 2005 he was promoted to the front bench, serving in the low-profile portfolios of Aboriginal Affairs and Citizenship.^[1]

Former NSW Premier, Nathan Rees, served as his Chief of Staff before joining the staff of then-Premier Morris Iemma in 2006.

Arrest and conviction

On 5 November 2006, police minister John Watkins was informed by police commissioner Ken Moroney that Orkopoulos was about to be charged with child sex offences. Moroney later explained that the Orkopolous case "is an issue that would be discussed in the normal course of events between us."^[2] The call, which resulted in the premier's office knowing that the arrest of a senior colleague was imminent, raised questions as to the political independence of the New South Wales Police. Legal commentator Richard Ackland wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald that "I can't think of a solid reason why third parties should be told by the police that they are about to nab someone important."^[3]

On 7 November 2006 Orkopoulos was arrested and charged with 30 offences including involvement in child prostitution, sexual assault and supplying illegal drugs.^[4][5]

Premier Morris Iemma immediately sacked him from Cabinet, and he was also expelled from the Labor Party. Orkopoulos denied the charges but indicated that he would not contest his Swansea electorate at the 2007 state election. He resigned from parliament on 13 November 2006^[6][7] and reportedly attempted suicide the next day.^[8]

The government also passed legislation to suspend or remove parliamentary pension entitlements for any member who resigns when charged with serious crimes prior to the resolution of charges.^[9] The provisions of the legislation permitted it to be applied retrospectively to Orkopoulos.^[10]

Further charges were laid against Orkopoulos on 16 April 2007.^[11] On 14 March 2008 he was found guilty of 28 offences relating to sexual assault of a minor, indecent assault and supplying heroin and cannabis.^[12] On 21 May 2008 Orkopoulos was sentenced to 13 years and 11 months in jail, with a non-parole period of 9 years and 3 months.^[13] In March 2009, he lodged a challenge against his conviction in the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal.^[14]

Appeal

On 25 August 2009 the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal rejected Orkopoulos' appeal against his conviction but reduced his maximum sentence to 13 years and eight months (instead of the 13 years and 11 months sentence by the trial court) with a non-parole period of nine years.^[15]

See also

• List of Australian criminals

References