BY HIS own admission he was a "goose" and did some "stupid things" - but that will not stop Craig Baumann from running for re-election come 2015.
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The Port Stephens MP was defiant after he joined the crossbench on Friday following allegations at the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) that he submitted false electoral funding declarations in his 2007 campaign.
He is the 10th state Liberal MP to resign from the NSW Liberal Party.
"I have no intention of not running [in the next election]," he said.
"It was ignorance more than anything. Not malicious intent and I'll continue to do what's best for the people of Port Stephens.
"That's not a platitude - I mean it."
Mr Baumann was called to front ICAC last week, where it was announced the scope of inquiry into political donations would be widened to include whether he had failed to disclose receiving donations from property developers Jeff McCloy and Hilton Grugeon.
It was revealed that he accepted a total of $79,684 for his 2007 campaign from the prominent businessmen.
Though at the time it was not illegal to accept the money, Mr Baumann admitted to the creation of a "sham" invoice to conceal the $32,604 donated by Mr McCloy.
The $47,080 from Mr Grugeon was not revealed in his election funding disclosures either.
Mr Baumann told the Examiner this week that while he would have "liked more time" to make a decision on his future, he maintained he was not forced to resign.
"I don't want to be a distraction for the government, which is why I stepped aside from the party," he said.
"Mike Baird [NSW Premier] had an important press conference on that day on national security and I would have been a distraction from a very serious issue."
He said he understood people would be upset, but rejected calls to step down completely.
"I had no idea at the time that what I was doing was wrong," he said.
"I was a goose, but I wasn't being dishonest. I was stupid."
Both Mr Grugeon and Mr McCloy are landowners in a controversial development that would see part of Wallalong rezoned from rural to residential and would have potentially made both men a significant amount of money.
The development, which Mr Baumann supported during his time as mayor on the Port Stephens Council and which would see more than 3000 homes created in the area, was rejected by the NSW Department of Planning in June this year.
Mr Baumann categorically denied any money paid by the developers was used to "garner favour" with him or to buy support for the proposal.
"No. Absolutely not," he said. "The fact is, at that time [Labor was in government] and there's not much a backbencher can do even if I wanted to.
"In fact, there's bugger all when it is referred to Department of Planning and that is the beauty of the system."
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