ICAC calls up Labor candidate Set to contest John Howard's old seat: Jeff Salvestro-Martin. The Labor Party candidate for the federal seat Bennelong has been ordered to front an Independent Commission Against Corruption hearing into allegations of bribery and misconduct at Ryde Council. Jeff Salvestro-Martin, a Ryde councillor who will contest John Howard's former seat, confirmed he will appear in the witness box at the 10-day corruption hearing starting in Sydney on Monday. Cr Salvestro-Martin told Fairfax Media he had done "nothing more than protect the public interest" during a battle over the proposed redevelopment of the Ryde Civic Precinct that ended in the council general manager, John Neish, becoming a protected witness for ICAC. ICAC would not comment on why Cr Salvestro-Martin had been called but his mere presence at the Castlereagh Street headquarters will be a blow to Kevin Rudd and his crusade to distance his leadership from the allegations of sleaze dogging NSW Labor. Bennelong, held by Liberal John Alexander on a margin of just 3.1 per cent, is one of two NSW seats targeted to be won back from the Coalition as a result of the Rudd poll bounce. The ICAC inquiry will examine allegations that Ryde mayor Ivan Petch and others released confidential council information in a bid to undermine Mr Neish and other council employees. While Mr Neish was on leave in July last year, Cr Petch and Cr Salvestro-Martin, along with four other councillors, voted to sack him. ICAC will test claims that Cr Petch told Mr Neish his job would be safe if he could delay consideration of the proposed redevelopment of the civic precinct, allegedly so that Cr Petch could scuttle the project if the deadlocked numbers on council changed. Cr Petch, a former Liberal turned independent, was backed into the mayoral chains by Labor councillors, including Cr Salvestro-Martin. Cr Petch and Cr Salvestro-Martin were fighting to reverse a multimillion-dollar contract awarded to Lend Lease to redevelop the civic precinct. Cr Salvestro-Martin, an ex-Navy officer, said ICAC had called only those who were against the redevelopment as witnesses, claiming "evil and corrosive elements" within the Liberal Party had spurred the investigation. I've done nothing other than protect the public interest. If that's a punishable offence, I'd be shocked and amazed," he said. We've done nothing more than what anyone with a moral compass would have done. That is, stand up for the community and the public purse. He said he was a proponent of the redevelopment before he realised it was a "dodgy deal" based on a tender that was designed to give Lend Lease the contract. Cr Salvestro-Martin told ALP branch members in Bennelong that he has been given protected status by ICAC but Fairfax Media has learned that status applies to a separate matter and will not apply at the public hearing. A NSW Labor spokesman said: "Cr Salvestro-Martin advised us that he was assisting ICAC in its inquiry into Ryde Council."