New South Wales State Politics
Following the retirement of Faye Lo Po', Paluzzano won endorsement and then election for the seat of Penrith at the 2003 State election, after being forced to preferences. Paluzzano was re-elected at the 2007 State election, again on preferences, with a slightly increased majority.
In 2008, Paluzzano was appointed Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Minister for Education and Training by Premier Nathan Rees.
In December 2009, Timothy Horan, an Electorate Officer working for Paluzzano, alleged to the clerk of the Legislative Assembly that Paluzzano had illegally used public money to fund her re-election campaign. At first she denied the accusation at a preliminary Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) hearing on 16 April 2010. At a subsequent ICAC hearing on 5 May, Paluzzano admitted to falsely signing employee pay forms and using her electoral mail allowance for political purposes. The Commission, after completing its inquiry in July 2010, recommended that criminal changes be laid against Paluzzano. ICAC asked the Director of Public Prosecutions to consider charging Paluzzano over a range of offences, including misconduct in public office, obtaining money for one of her staff members, obtaining a "valuable thing" for herself and misleading corruption investigators.
On 4 May 2010, Paluzzano stepped down as Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Training. She was subsequently suspended from the Labor Party and resigned from Parliament on 7 May 2010 one day after serving seven years as a Member of Parliament, making her eligible for a parliamentary pension. Her resignation triggered a by-election for the seat of Penrith which was won by the Liberal candidate Stuart Ayres, with a swing of approximately 25% from the Labor Party on two-candidate preferred terms.
On 7 June 2012 Paluzzano pleaded guilty to four charges relating to falsely claiming parliamentary payments between 2006 and 2007, as well as giving misleading evidence to the corruption watchdog in a 2010 inquiry. On 6 September 2012, Paluzzano was sentenced to a minimum of twelve months home detention.
Read more about this topic: Karyn Paluzzano
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