Sue Neales Mercury
A BITTER enmity between late Tasmanian premier Jim Bacon and former Labor health minister John White lies at the heart of the current scandal embroiling sacked deputy premier Bryan Green and the Tasmanian Compliance Corporation (TCC).
Twisted in the tangled web is a fascinating mix of typically Tasmanian intrigue, Labor politics, money and jealousy.
The scene for trouble was set in 1999, when Mr White was forced to quit politics after his Upper House seat was abolished and his chances of a $400,000 compensation payment quashed, decisions he blamed Mr Bacon for. It was this deep resentment Mr White harboured that senior Labor figures claim fuelled his belief that the Labor Party “owed” him financially. In turn, it led Mr White to seek lucrative sinecures after his political retirement in 1999.
