Panton $1.6M loan to Turner not connected to election

(CNS): A CI$1.64 million loan made by former premier Wayne Panton to Health Minister Sabrina Turner to enable her to buy a house was not connected to the horsetrading among MPs in the wake of the 2021 election, as the agreement was not made until April of last year. While concerns have been raised that the loan by a sitting premier to a Cabinet colleague appears unethical, it seems that Panton gained nothing beyond the terms of the deal itself since it did not stop the coup that usurped him from the leadership.

Panton said he agreed to the bridging loan when Turner was unable to sell her existing home in time to acquire a new $14 million canal-front home she and her family wanted to buy in Patricks Island.

Panton has confirmed that the loan agreement and terms were drawn up by lawyers and the details are on the land registry documents and available for public scrutiny. He said he did not declare making a loan to Turner at the time on the Register of Interests because this is not required under the legislation, even though she was his health minister at the time and he currently holds the charge on her existing home.

Turner listed the loan on her own entry on the Register of Interest but failed to reveal that it was the premier who had lent her the money and held a charge on her home. However, the register is not policed. In a recent unrelated search by CNS, we discovered that missing details by board members, senior civil servants as well as MPs is common.

Opposition MPs, members of Panton’s former Cabinet and former politicians have all raised concerns about the implications of the loan. However, Panton told CNS that it was not connected to the horsetrading following the election that saw Turner join the PACT coalition of independent members rather than the PPM, which she had initially agreed to do.

He maintained that it was a simple loan agreement with no other strings attached, and his decision to make the loan was based purely on his colleague’s need and nothing else. Panton said there were no ulterior motives.

Six months later, it was evident that it did not impact Turner’s political decision-making as she was part of the Cabinet that ousted Panton from office. It is also understood that Turner does not regard the debt she owes Panton as impacting anything other than the money owed, given that she remains in a Cabinet intent on undermining the National Conservation Law — legislation that is intrinsically linked to Panton.

The loan, which was always public but had not drawn any attention, made the headlines last week after Mario Rankin, a local vlogger and political activist, posted the land registry documents relating to the loan and accused the premier of buying political favours.