Career
He was elected as a Liberal Party of Australia candidate, and represented that party until 6 August 2014, when he moved to the parliamentary crossbench and sat as an independent after the Independent Commission Against Corruption heard evidence that Cornwell may have breached electoral funding laws. After earlier announcing that would not contest his seat at the next state election, on 12 August 2014 Cornwell resigned from parliament with immediate effect triggering the 2014 Charlestown by-election. Cornwell is a veterinarian with a practice located in Cardiff, New South Wales.
In 2011, Cornwell contested the normally safe Labor seat of Charlestown in the Hunter Valley.
The swing was all the more remarkable since the seat had been in Labor hands since its creation in 1971. Indeed, the Liberals had not even put up a candidate in the 2007 election.
In parliament, Cornwell was appointed the government"s chief whip in the Legislative Assembly. On 6 August 2014, a hearing of the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption (Independent Commission Against Corruption) revealed that Cornwell had received $10,000 in illegal donations from Newcastle Lord Mayor Jeff McCloy.
Following this revelation, Cornwell resigned from the Liberal Party and moved to the crossbench as an independent pending the result of the inquiry.
Cornwell has said that before the 2011 election, McCloy, a prominent developer in Newcastle, met him in McCloy"s Bentley and gave him the money, which in turn was given to the Liberal Party. The money was used to pay Cornwell"s PAYG tax On 8 August 2014, Cornwell announced that would not contest his seat at the next NSW election, yet by 12 August he had resigned from parliament with immediate effect.
As an "explicit act of atonement" for the actions of Cornwell and others, the Liberals opted not to contest the ensuing 2014 Charlestown by-election, which saw Labor reclaim the seat.
