Former NSW minister Eddie Obeid played no role in his sons' Circular Quay cafes during more than 15 years in public office, his eldest son has testified.
Appearing at the 72-year-old's NSW Supreme Court misconduct trial on Tuesday, Damian Obeid said his father "rarely if at all" discussed business matters with them.
Damian Obeid said he'd been a property developer for more than a decade when in 2002 he and his brothers invested in two retail shops at Circular Quay wharfs and a nearby cafe.
Based on legal advice, the company Circular Quay Restaurants was used to buy the businesses for a total of $2.4 million, with Damian Obeid's uncle John Abood - Eddie Obeid's brother-in-law - as sole company director and shop manager on a $50,000 salary, plus car and phone.
Damian Obeid said his parent's large Hunters Hill home was used as security to finance the transaction but couldn't provide further details of the loan because it wasn't his field of expertise.
He said the entire Obeid family gathered for lunch every Sunday at the Hunters Hill home but business was not discussed, including between the early 1990s and 2008 when his father was a member of the NSW parliament's upper house.
"From the early 1990s did your father play any role in these businesses that you and your brothers had invested in?" crown prosecutor Peter Neil SC asked.
"No," Mr Obeid replied.
"None whatsoever?"
"None," he said, adding he "rarely if at all" discussed business matters with his father.
Mr Obeid said he couldn't recall his father asking him or his brothers questions about business interests.
"As I sit here today I can't recall any particular conversations I've had with him about business," Mr Obeid told the court.
Obeid senior has pleaded not guilty to wilfully committing misconduct in public office by not declaring his personal interest in the leases between August and November 2007.
On Monday the crown alleged the former Labor minister was involved in Circular Quay Restaurants through a trust, and failed to disclose this or his son's connection when he allegedly asked the Maritime Authority deputy chief executive to intervene in a long-running dispute regarding lease renewals.
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