New Secretary of Transport for NSW.

[tonyp]

If Howard Collions did apply for the role, how could he possibly considered to be "underwhelming"? He'd run rings around the other applicants with his experience and having been involved within the Transport for NSW bureaucracy almost from its inception. This stinks. Time for Minns to show a bit of guts and dump both Haylen and Murray.

Maybe Collins isn't so strong on the financial and other corporate responsibilities of the office. Also TfNSW covers a lot more than public transport, not least of which being roads and maritime.

[tonyp]

James O’Doherty: Transport boss selection process has echoes of Barilaro affair

As opposition leader, Chris Minns was quick to slam ex-deputy premier John Barilaro being picked for a plum position. The selection process of the new Transport for NSW boss raises similar concerns, writes James O’Doherty.

James O'Doherty

Daily Telegraph: Opinion. August 17, 2023 - 5:44PM

Cabinet meetings are usually top-secret discussions between ministers of the Crown, who are bound by oath not to disclose what goes on.

But this week’s meeting had a special guest.

I can reveal that the Independent Commission Against Corruption used Tuesday’s meeting as an opportunity to remind members if Premier Chris Minns’ cabinet of their legal obligations under the Ministerial Code of Conduct.

As part of that presentation, the ICAC’s Chief Commissioner John Hatzistergos gave ministers an annotated copy of that code, complete with notes explaining what is, and is not, allowed.

The reminder came too late for dumped minister Tim Crakanthorp, who was sacked earlier this month for failing to disclose his family’s extensive property empire.

But it was, perhaps, timely for Transport Minister Jo Haylen, who stands accused of interfering (via her office) in a “merit-based selection process” to hand-pick her preferred candidate for one of the most important jobs in the bureaucracy.

That candidate was Josh Murray, a former Labor staffer-turned-Laing O’Rourke executive. He also happens to be a member of the Labor Party.

In July, a government media release said Murray’s appointment followed “a market testing and recruitment process led by the Acting Secretary of the Premier’s Department, Peter Duncan AM, in consultation with the Minister for Transport, Jo Haylen”.

The only problem? The panel put in place to evaluate candidates did not think Murray was the best candidate. And the minister’s office appears to have been pushing Murray from the start.

When the job was first advertised, Haylen’s Chief of Staff Scott Gartrell sent the job listing to Murray, who applied on May 19.

On May 23, Murray texted Gartrell to thank him for “checking in”.

“I had an email from (recruitment firm) NGS Global last Friday confirming they had all my materials,” he said.

Gartrell then said that Murray should be interviewed for the job, despite NGS Global initially suggesting that Murray did not have the “level of operational complexity required for this role”.

Later, the recruitment firm warned that Murray’s appointment would be a “significant risk” because he lacked “large-scale strategic, operational or people leadership experience”.

Eventually, the evaluation panel found Murray to be “very suitable” to be the next Transport boss.

However, he was ranked behind top Transport bureaucrat Benedicte Colin, who was deemed “highly suitable”.

Haylen was asked to pick between the two, which she did hours after interviewing them on a Saturday morning.

“Josh is a better fit for the department and for me at this time and is therefore my preferred candidate,” she told the acting Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary.

As Transport Minister, Haylen can choose whoever she wants to lead her department.

The government also wanted someone who would bring a fresh start, rather than someone who may bring baggage from the last government.

That is all fine.

Murray may end up being a good appointment; as Minns says, the proof will be in the pudding.

Haylen could have just appointed Murray from the outset and avoided all the fuss. However, she spent $125,000 on a “merit-based selection process” which ultimately suggested someone else would be more suitable for the job.

Haylen has said that she appointed the external panel to “reassure” herself that the best candidates had applied.

Essentially, the whole process was a $125,000 vibe check.

Now the minister is tying herself in knots trying to defend the actions very similar to those Labor slammed when former deputy premier John Barilaro was selected for a plum New York trade role.

Incredibly, Haylen has even claimed that her chief of staff “did not tell the independent panel who to interview”.

Except, in fact, he did.

On May 30, Gartrell told the chair of the assessment panel put in place to shortlist candidates that a proposed shortlist was “pretty underwhelming!”.

“Josh Murray should be interviewed as well,” he said.

Haylen has also admitted that her office intervened to get Murray an interview.

“Well, yes, my office did provide additional names to be interviewed,” she told 2GB, when explaining how Murray appeared on the final shortlist.

Haylen denies lying about her chief of staff’s involvement, claiming that he was just “making a suggestion”.

That is too cute by half.

Haylen clearly wanted Josh Murray to be the man running her department. She should have just appointed him in the first place, rather than trying to hide behind a sham process.

The Coalition believes that Haylen has serious questions to answer about whether she breached the Ministerial Code of Conduct over the saga.

Last week, the ICAC warned ministers that anything unlikely to pass “the pub test” should be referred to the corruption watchdog.

The guidelines said ministers should report anything that “a reasonable person in the community would consider the alleged conduct to be dubious or improper”.

Asked on Thursday if the Transport boss appointment passed the pub test, Haylen said a defiant “yes”.

Ultimately, that is a question only the public can answer.

[Swift]

Haylen could have just appointed Murray from the outset and avoided all the fuss. However, she spent $125,000 on a “merit-based selection process” which ultimately suggested someone else would be more suitable for the job.

Haylen has said that she appointed the external panel to “reassure” herself that the best candidates had applied.

Essentially, the whole process was a $125,000 vibe check.

No doubt that is the tip of the iceberg on waste that goes on from both sides in the NSW swampland.

America has someone prepared to drain it. We don't have that privilege.

[Ray]

Very kind observation re Biden there.

[tonyp]

https://www.themandarin.com.au/228563-p ... secretary/

[Swift]

It's obvious Labor put partisan politics above all else.
But so early in their term and being a minority government that can only dream of Wran's worst mid term election result??

Shameless.

[boronia]

All this worry about whether Murray is fit for the job'; no one has questioned Haylen's abilities.

[1whoknows]

How do you question something which has no real existence?

[tonyp]

Transport Minister Thrown Under Bus.

Premier admits taxpayer funds were wasted on Transport secretary recruitment

NSW Premier says the state government shouldn’t have forked out $125,000 on the recruitment of Josh Murray as the new Transport secretary in NSW.

William Tyson

Daily Telegraph, August 28, 2023 - 11:45AM

NSW Premier Chris Minns admits the state government shouldn’t have forked out $125,000 of taxpayer funds on a recruitment process that saw former Labor staffer Josh Murray appointed as the new Transport secretary in NSW.

The appointment attracted widespread criticism after government documents tabled to parliament revealed Transport Minister Jo Haylen chose Mr Murray to be her department’s secretary despite an independent evaluation panel finding that he was not the best candidate for the $588,250 per-year job.

It was also revealed Mr Murray spoke to Ms Haylen’s chief of staff Scott Gartrell about the recruitment process before he got the job of Transport for NSW secretary.

“We don’t want to waste any money, any public money when it comes to recruitment of any official and it’s important that we get the right people for the jobs,” Minns said to Ben Fordham on 2GB on Monday.

“In this context, it’s important to lay out the reason for that independent process was to see who will apply from around the world from other jurisdictions, who was running rail operations for example.”

When asked by Fordham if the $125,000 put into the recruitment process was “a waste of money”, Minns conceded and agreed.

“Well given that Mr Murray was appointed to the job obviously we wanted to make sure that we don’t spend that money when we don’t need to,” he said.

“In retrospect it wasn’t required, that’s correct.

“If you know who you want for the position we want to make sure we’re in a position where we can appoint those senior public servants for those difficult jobs.”

Earlier this month Ms Haylen denied accusations she lied about how the state’s Transport boss was recruited.

She said her chief of staff Scott Gartrell “did not tell the independent panel who to interview”.

But the bombshell government documents revealed Mr Gartrell said “Josh Murray should be interviewed” for the $588,250 job as Transport for NSW Secretary.

Ms Haylen said Mr Gartrell “was asked for input … on an initial list of candidates”.

Opposition roads spokeswoman Natalie Ward accused Ms Haylen of telling a “blatant lie”. “Every time the minister opens her mouth the story changes,” Ms Ward said.

“Her statement today that her chief of staff did not tell the panel who to interview is a blatant lie.” Ms Haylen said her chief of staff was “making a suggestion” on who should be interviewed for the job but “it was not up to him”.

[/quote]

[Swift]

Jo Haylen has to go. Shameless word games in a pathetic attempt to deceive the public on what went on.

[Linto63]

While the optics aren't great with the process less than transparent and the minister should probably go, particularly in light of NSW transport secretary donated to Haylen before she hand-picked him for role, this sought of thing is not uncommon in the private sector.

Many companies when seeking to fill a senior role will still go through this process, even if the candidate ultimately ends up being an internal appointment, e.g. AFL appoints US company to find footy’s next boss, a position that ended up being filled from within.

[Transtopic]

Jo Haylen has to go. Shameless word games in a pathetic attempt to deceive the public on what went on.

Agree. She's a complete airhead and out of her depth. I've never had much confidence in her, even when she was the Shadow Transport Minister. Surely she must have been aware of the conflict of interest, which would come out eventually, in appointing Murray to the position when he clearly doesn't have the necessary experience for one of the most senior roles in the NSW bureaucracy. If she wasn't, then that's even more damning of her judgement.

Haylen, her Chief of Staff Scott Gartrell and Josh Murray all have to go and if they don't fall on their swords, then Minns should have the intestinal fortitude to sack them. Better to do it now than later in Labor's term when things could be much worse because of their incompetence.

I think that Roads Minister John Graham, who is in the Upper House, would be a far more competent Transport Minister, as he seems to be across his brief. Even Shadow Roads Minister, Natalie Ward, who is also in the Upper House, runs rings around Haylen.

With Transport for NSW now having overall jurisdiction for transport, including roads, I've never understood why there needs to be a separate Roads Minister. It's time that ministerial responsibility for transport was brought under the one umbrella.

[Swift]

With all these new extra ministries like climate change, women's affairs or whatever that have sprouted lately, why not amalgamate those two?
The roads lobby must be the main resistor.

[STMPainter2018]

GOOD FOR HER! https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw ... 5e06b.html

[Swift]

That small amount for the donation is not such a problem, it's that she overrode the outsourced recruitment process that deemed him less suited than others, to give a man with ties to a past state Labor government the role, making the paid services of the recruitment specialists superfluous, when she and others in her department clearly had one candidate in mind.

[boronia]

Murray was profiled in the recruitment process. Although not recommended, she made a "Captain's pick"; not uncommon in politics (Abbot was good at it!, so was the NSW LNP). It wasn't as if he was a complete outsider.

Maybe the $125,00 was well spent, if it means the public became aware of what happened.

[tonyp]

BREAKING
Minister’s choice lucky few: three VIP invites only for plum job

Josh Murray and his family paid almost $1500 in donations to Labor fundraisers which went undeclared during the recruitment process for the transport secretary role he would ultimately get, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.
James O'Doherty and Lachlan Leeming

Daily Telegraph
August 31, 2023 - 11:29AM

Josh Murray and his family paid almost $1500 in donations to Labor fundraisers which went undeclared during the recruitment process for the transport secretary role he would ultimately get, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.

Mr Murray, under questioning from Mark Latham, said he attended a former premier’s dinner at Parliament earlier this year, with his wife purchasing a ticket for her and himself costing $500 in each.

The donations, which came before Mr Murray was transport secretary, weren’t declared when he applied for the role.

“Even public servants are allowed to take part in democratic processes and engagement with their community, I was not a public servant. As a private citizen, I was a friend of many people in that room,” he said.

Mr Murray and his wife also paid $750 in total at a fundraising dinner for Jo Haylen at Wests Ashfield last year.

His household also chipped in $200 to a Labor trivia night, with Mr Latham saying Mr Murray had now gotten close to $1500 in donations which hadn’t been declared during the recruitment process. The total is $1450.

Greens MP Abigail Boyd asked whether people with longstanding relationships with political parties should be excluded from public service positions.

“Absolutely not. In my experience working in this place, and also out in the global infrastructure sector, I would contest that political staff members are often some of the hardest working and committed people I’ve ever worked with,” he said.

Mr Murray also took a shot at recruiter NGS Global, saying the first list of potential candidates was submitted before he’d ever been contacted.

He said he also had concerns with the recruitment process after the recruiters got his name wrong and had him initially shortlisted to a different position to the one he applied for.

He said the recruitment company’s managing partner Dr Marianne Broadbent had called him “Josh Gordon” and stated he was unlikely to be successful for the role because he didn’t have investigative transport – leading him to believe the recruiter had thought he had applied for roles with the ICAC watchdog.

Mr Murray cited a later email on June 29 from the recruiter to the acting secretary of the Premier’s department, Peter Duncan, “just realised we had not sent these to you – the results of both candidates are strong with no showstoppers with Josh’s scores are very high, and with little variation”.

“When you’re talking to a recruiter, you don’t want them talking about either getting your name wrong, or talking to you about a different process,” he said.

Mr Murray also wouldn’t declare who his references were, after being grilled on whether his referees included any former staff or members from his former employment with Labor.

Staff from his employer at the time of his application, Laing O’Rourke, weren’t included in his references.

KNEW LABOR PAST WOULD ‘CAPTURE HEADLINES’

Earlier, Haylen’s hand-picked selection to be the boss of NSW’s transport system says he had a “semi-professional” relationship with the Minister dating back seven years, while he had known her chief of staff who intervened in his application since at least 2008.

Mr Murray told the inquiry he knew his past roles as a Labor staffer to Morris Iemma would be brought up when he was picked as transport secretary.

“I always knew that my time as a government staff member or time that I’m proud of, would still capture the headlines,” he said.

“So the idea that I’ve secretly traded a highly rewarding international infrastructure leadership role, leading teams globally and successfully for 15 years, taking a pay cut in some kind of conspiracy – that just doesn’t stack up and I reject all of that.”

Under questioning from Shadow Transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward, Mr Murray said he first met Ms Haylen seven years ago at a mutual friend’s wedding.

“We had a semi-professional relationship where we would see each other around business related activities,” he said.

He also said he’d met with her after she was sworn in as transport minister after Labor won the March election.

He also provided more details on the 2022 Wests Ashfield fundraiser where he donated $500 to her campaign, by purchasing two tickets worth $250 each.

He said he’d also attended a trivia night and a NSW Parliament dinner for other members since then as a guest.

He resigned his Labor Party membership in June this year.

Mr Murray said he’d also known Premier Chris Minns for 20 years, with the pair both working in NSW Parliament before their current roles.

Ms Haylen’s office invited Mr Murray to a meeting in parliament in April 4 before he was transport secretary, with Mr Murray saying he gave broad feedback on NSW’s transport system.

“We didn’t discuss the secretary position, we discussed the organisation of transport in New South Wales, we discussed my past experience as being a transport Chief of Staff. And we talked about the structures that existed at that time,” he said.

Mr Murray said he first met Ms Haylen’s chief of staff Scott Gartrell in 2007 or 2008, when Mr Murray worked for Morris Iemma and Mr Gartrell was working for Government Relations Australia.

Mr Gartrell texted Mr Murray the job advertisement for the transport secretary role earlier this year and also recommended he be interviewed for the role, documents tabled to parliament revealed.

“So I knew him when I was working for the former Premier, and he was working for Government Relations Australia, we would have had a couple of meetings over that time period,” Mr Murray said.

Mr Murray said he didn’t disclose his previous membership of Labor during the transport secretary interview process, saying his former role as Morris Iemma’s chief of staff was “writ clear” on his CV.

He said Mr Gartrell had shared the link to the job with him, explaining it as: “I’m sure he thought I…may either be interested or I may share (it with others who would be)”.

Mr Murray confirmed he had checked in with Mr Gartrell following concerns that NGS Global, who was running the $125,000 taxpayer-funded recruitment process, “wasn’t being handled professionally”. Embattled transport minister Jo Haylen has refused to apologise to voters for wasting $125,000 on a recruitment process for the state’s transport boss.

Ms Haylen has also refused to say who else her office invited to apply for the role ultimately given to former Labor staffer Josh Murray.

The minister also defended her decision not to appear before a parliamentary inquiry today (Thursday), declaring she is “not answerable to the Upper House.

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I stand by the fact that we put advertisements for this very important job in the newspaper, on LinkedIn, (and) on government websites,” she said.

Ms Haylen did not say what she would have done differently if she had her time again but said the recruiter contracted to head hunt for the role was “lacklustre”.

Ms Haylen agreed that she knew Mr Murray before he was appointed but denied he was anything more than a “professional acquaintance”.

MINISTER’S LUCKY CHOSEN FEW

The Daily Telegraph revealed only three people were invited by Ms Haylen’s office to apply to run her department, despite her claims that “many” people had received invitations

Ms Haylen has refused to attend a parliamentary inquiry into the appointment of personal donor Josh Murray to the job of Transport Secretary, prompting accusations of hypocrisy after Labor last year slammed the coalition for failing to appear at hearings.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that, other than Mr Murray, Ms Haylen’s chief of staff Scott Gartrell only sent the job advertisement to two other people via text message.

Ms Haylen told 2GB earlier this week her office “texted a publicly available advertisement to many qualified people for the job”.

Her claim is the latest example of the minister trying to deny Mr Murray received special treatment before he was picked to run her department.

Previously, she said Mr Gartrell “did not tell the independent panel who to interview”.

That is despite Mr Gartrell saying “Josh Murray should be interviewed” for the $588,250 job.

A spokesman for Ms Haylen would not say who else Mr Gartrell texted with a link to the job advertisement, citing privacy concerns.

Mr Gartrell will be one of the few witnesses appearing before the inquiry, after a number of key people involved declined the invitation to attend.

Ms Haylen has refused to attend today’s hearing, but may be compelled to appear at a future hearing.

Former Labor Minister Verity Firth, who was on the panel considering candidates for the Transport job, will appear today after initially declining.

Dianne Leeson, a key public servant involved in the assessment process, and Public Service Commissioner Kathrina Lo are both overseas on leave.

Committee chair and Greens MP Abigail Boyd said the hearing will still go ahead, but further hearings will be held down the track.

“We will get through tomorrow (Thursday), and we’ll consider the evidence and see where the gaps are,” she said.

“To the extent that we feel it’s useful to have the people attend at a future date, we will organise that and summons them if we have to.”

Ms Boyd also said the upper house will look to force Ms Haylen to face questions via a parliamentary order.

Labor has previously savaged Coalition MPs for not attending inquiries.

Last year, senior Labor MP Penny Sharpe slammed then-Premier Dominic Perrottet for not fronting up to a parliamentary inquiry investigating allegations former deputy premier John Barilaro was promised a $500,000-a-year New York trade role.

“Clearly we would want to see him and we’d expect that he would want to provide information to the public,” Ms Sharpe said in August last year.

“He’s got to come clean.”

And then-shadow treasurer Daniel Mookhey also slammed former Penrith MP Stuart Ayres for going on an overseas trade trip during the Barilaro inquiry.

“I’m astounded that he thought it was a good idea to join the Premier (overseas),” Mr Mookhey said last year.

“He (Dominic Perrottet) doesn’t need Stuart Ayres there next to him cutting the ribbon.”

Opposition leader Mark Speakman yesterday said Labor were being hypocrites.

“Jo Haylen is running scared. Jo Haylen is in hiding. She won’t answer questions in Parliament. She won’t appear before the general media and she won’t front up to a Legislative Council inquiry,” Mr Speakman said.

Deputy Premier Prue Car yesterday claimed a $500 donation from Mr Murray to Ms Haylen’s election campaign last year had been “blown a little bit out of proportion”.

“We‘re not talking about thousands of dollars’ worth of donations,” she said.

[tonyp]

Opinion
James O’Doherty: Chris Minns fails to live up to high bar he set from opposition

Jo Haylen’s refusal to appear before a parliamentary committee is an act of hypocrisy, writes James O’Doherty.
James O'DohertyJames O'DohertyState Political Editor

Daily Telegraph
August 30, 2023 - 6:41PM

Integrity scandals within his party are starting to rub some of the sheen off the man who came to power promising to be the Mr Clean of NSW politics.

Last year, Premier Chris Minns wrote of the need for all politicians to pursue “a continuous and relentless determination to place integrity at the heart of all your decisions and actions”.

Labor has learned the hard way, Minns wrote, of the need to pursue an “unwavering commitment to always be probing ourselves, and others, to ensure there is integrity in public life in NSW”.

Twelve months later, Minns has already sacked one minister over a secret property portfolio.

He is staring down calls to fire another for hiring a former Labor staffer and political donor to run the transport department — and wasting $125,000 on a useless recruitment exercise in the process.

And, in one of his first moves of the new parliament, Minns also supported one of his best mates — Nationals MP Ben Franklin — for a plum parliamentary job in order to give his party a numbers advantage in the Upper House.

Labor faced accusations it was improperly supporting Franklin for Upper House president because he is also godfather to one of Chris Minns’ kids.

When Minns dumped Tim Crakanthorp from the ministry over an undeclared property empire, the Premier declared that Labor was elected “with a promise to restore trust and integrity to public matters and public life”.

But now, less than a month later, one of Minns’ closest allies is refusing to front a parliamentary inquiry to explain why she spent $125,000 on headhunters to find a new transport boss only to hire the man she wanted in the first place.

When former Labor staffer Josh Murray’s appointment was announced, the government said he had been chosen after a “market testing and recruitment process” led by the acting public service boss, “in consultation” with the minister.

But the minister failed to mention that Murray was left off an initial short list because he lacked experience, then deemed to be a “significant risk” by recruiters, according to documents tabled in parliament.

Haylen also omitted the fact that her chief of staff sent Murray the job ad when it went live and checked in with him throughout the process.

Haylen’s refusal to attend an upper house probe into the matter is nothing other than hypocrisy.

Last year, when a similar probe was held into how John Barilaro was given a $500,000 per year trade job in New York, Labor’s upper house leader Penny Sharpe criticised Premier Dominic Perrottet for declining an invitation to appear.

Labor also criticised other Coalition MPs for failing to show up at integrity probes.

Now the shoe is on the other foot, Labor is doing exactly the same thing: arguing that, by “convention”, ministers do not need to front upper house inquiries.

Minns will continue to stare down calls to sack his Transport Minister — Haylen is a key member of the Premier’s Praetorian Guard.

But that loyalty comes with a price: the mud from this scandal is starting to stick.

[boronia]

Under taxation laws, payments made to an organisation cannot be claimed as a donation if they are for receiving, or expecting to receive, any material benefit or advantage in return. e.g tickets to a dinner.