By Rob Taylor
CANBERRA (Reuters) - A sex-and-property scandal involving afemale city planner on a "mission for sex" in return forapprovals of high-rise buildings threatened to engulfAustralia's biggest state government on Friday.
An undercover sting by anti-corruption investigatorsuncovered a web of affairs involving 32-year-old town plannerBeth Morgan in the steel-and-surfing city of Wollongong, southof Sydney, with three prominent building developers.
Morgan, said by one of the three men to be "on a missionfor sex", gave approval for millions of dollars worth ofunlawful city building developments in return for gifts andaffairs, the powerful Independent Commission against Corruption(ICAC) heard.
"Mile High Rise Club," said a headline in the mass-sellingDaily Telegraph newspaper.
Morgan gave testimony to the commission about the affairs,admitted to by two developers, while a third denied the pairactually had a sexual relationship.
But the scandal, which has captivated Australians, alsothreatens several ministers in the government of the nation'smost populous state, New South Wales, which includes Sydney.
Australians generally believe their country to be largelycorruption free and it ranks well on the international indexprepared by Transparency International.
Amid the public ICAC hearings, state Premier Morris Iemmapromised to sack a senior minister if he was found to haveimproperly given a job to a Wollongong city councillor linkedto the scandal.
Four other state ministers have also been indirectly linkedby the ICAC to central figures in the furore.
"Anyone found to have done the wrong thing will be out, nomatter who they are," Iemma said.
The ICAC hearings have been given front-page treatment,with corruption investigators documenting lurid details ofemails and phone messages between Morgan and her allegedlovers, which in turn have run in newspapers nationally.
Adding to public shock are photographs of the stylishMorgan and the men she pursued, receiving from them cameras,cash payments, a China holiday and designer handbags, the ICACheard.
Hundreds of late night and weekend phone calls betweenMorgan and her alleged partners have also been logged bycorruption investigators from the commission.
(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
