Next week's sentencing of Edward Moses Obeid for misconduct in public office will be a moment of catharsis for the people of NSW who watched, appalled, as the former Labor minister's misdeeds were laid bare at the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
A custodial sentence is expected. Despite the best efforts of his lawyers to plead the case for home detention inside his Hunters Hill mansion, the possibility of Obeid spending more than a few years in Long Bay or an equivalent establishment is highly likely.
Assuming that's the case, the sentencing next Thursday should elicit notes of welcome from Premier Mike Baird, opposition leader Luke Foley and others keen to show they approve of corrupt politicians getting what they deserve, no matter their party affiliation.
But for Baird there will be an additional test: what to do about Obeid's generous parliamentary pension which kicked in at more than $120,000 a year, indexed for life, after he quit Parliament in 2011.
Obeid also had the option of converting his payment to a lump sum 10 times the annual payment but privacy laws prevent us learning if he did so. (These generous provision do not apply for MPs who entered Parliament after 2007)
It's difficult to believe, but even after his conviction for misconduct in public office – in relation to lobbying over commercial leases at Circular Quay in which his family held an interest – the NSW taxpayer, who he effectively ripped off, will still be obligated to support Obeid for the rest of his life.
Why? Because under the current laws, former politicians who are convicted of a serious crime – an "infamous crime" or one punishable by at least five years' imprisonment – after leaving Parliament may only be stripped of their pension if they are charged while still in office.
Obeid's offences were committed as an MP but he wasn't charged until well after he left Parliament.
Upon Obeid's conviction in June, Baird announced he had sought "urgent advice" on what can be done to remedy this.
But the legal advice – which may also examine what if anything can be done if a lump sum was taken – remains under wraps.
If and when he gets around to fixing this ridiculous situation, it's important that whatever legislative remedy is pursued isn't Obeid-specific. Nor should it be exclusively linked to corruption findings.
Obeid's former Labor colleague Ian Macdonald was also charged after leaving Parliament with misconduct in public office in relation to the awarding of valuable mining leases.
Macdonald became eligible for an annual, indexed parliamentary pension of $135,545 when he left politics in 2010. He has yet to be tried.
But more importantly for Baird, one of his own former Liberal colleagues, Chris Hartcher, also faces potential criminal charges stemming from ICAC's Operation Spicer into Liberal fundraising before the 2011 state election.
When Hartcher retired from Parliament at the 2015 poll he became eligible for a parliamentary pension worth more than $130,000 a year.
In August in its Operation Spicer report ICAC recommended that the Director of Public Prosecutions consider charging Hartcher, a former NSW energy minister, with larceny.
The finding was related to three cheques worth $4000 written for the benefit of the NSW Liberals. ICAC found the cheques were instead banked by a law firm and later given to Hartcher.
Under the NSW Crimes Act, larceny carries a sentence of five years' imprisonment.
ICAC also found Hartcher – along with eight other former Liberal MPs – tried to evade political donations laws.
Yet, due to ICAC's powers and scope being redefined by the High Court ruling following its attempt to investigate deputy senior Crown prosecutor Margaret Cunneen, no corruption finding was made against them.
Baird is already accused of letting those same Liberal MPs "off the hook". A three-year time frame within which prosecutions can be launched has expired as the offences were committed in 2010.
That time frame was changed to 10 years in late 2014, following the ICAC hearings, but it only applies to offences committed after that date. Despite the urgings of the opposition Baird has refused to make the change retrospective, arguing being dragged through ICAC is punishment enough.
Hartcher has not been charged with larceny. But if he is and a court convicts him, Baird must ensure that whatever changes he introduces to claw back Obeid's pension also capture his former Liberal colleague and any others to follow.
Sean Nicholls is state political editor.
