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Former NSW Labor leader to chair troubled public insurer
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Former NSW Labor leader John Robertson will take over the state's troubled public insurer as part of a major shake-up of the icare board.
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet will announce Mr Robertson's appointment as chair of icare on Wednesday, replacing former Macquarie Group investment banker and long-time Liberal Party donor Michael Carapiet.
Outgoing icare chairman Michael Carapiet.Credit: Peter Braig
The deputy chair Gavin Bell, former global chief executive of Herbert Smith Freehills, will also be replaced.
Mr Carapiet will step aside following a damaging period for the board which also saw former chief executive John Nagle quit after it emerged he had failed to properly disclose a conflict of interest involving his wife's employment.
Mr Nagle also failed to declare in the agency's annual report business-class flights to Las Vegas to speak at a conference organised by software company Guidewire in October 2018.
Mr Carapiet wrote to Mr Perrottet earlier this year, indicating his intention to resign at the conclusion of the September 25 board meeting. A NSW Treasury briefing note from May, which included Mr Carapiet's letter, discussed an "icare board refresh strategy".
Former NSW Labor leader John Robertson will become the chair of icare.Credit: James Alcock
It said five new directors should be appointed, including a new chair and deputy chair.
Mr Robertson's appointment comes as a parliamentary inquiry into icare resumes on Wednesday, with NSW Treasury secretary Michael Pratt to appear and will be questioned over the dire financial position of the $32 billion agency.
Mr Perrottet will also release on Wednesday the findings of a staff audit into his ministerial office which was undertaken after administrative issues were found with the employment of several staff.
Mr Perrottet's chief-of-staff Nigel Freitas resigned after revelations that two of the Treasurer's ministerial staffers, including senior policy adviser, Ed Yap, a former US Republican staffer, were paid by icare in breach of regulations.
Icare has been under intense scrutiny since a joint investigation by the Herald, The Age and ABC TV's Four Corners revealed as many as 52,000 injured workers had been underpaid by up to $80 million in compensation, and the regulator had "grave concerns" about its financial position.
Mr Robertson, a former head of Unions NSW, was state Labor leader for almost three years after the party's landslide loss in 2011. He resigned in 2014 after it was revealed years earlier he had signed a letter of request for Lindt siege gunman Man Haron Monis in relation to a dispute he was having with his second wife over visitation rights for their two children.
Labor has been highly critical of the management of icare, repeatedly calling for Mr Perrottet to sack the board. Amid Labor's calls, NSW Labor president and long-term icare board member Mark Lennon quit his board position at the public insurer.
Mr Perrottet said Mr Robertson had extensive experience in the union movement and also served as a director of WorkCover, the predecessor to icare, for several years.
"John joins icare at what is a crucial time for the organisation and will be integral in ensuring we deliver the very best system we can for injured workers," Mr Perrottet said.
"It is important he is involved in the search and appointment of a new CEO and is on the ground as Robert McDougall undertakes his review into icare.”
"I would like to thank Mr Carapiet for his contribution to icare during what has been a significant period of transformation and ensuring an orderly transition of the board."
Mr Robertson said he had "always been a huge advocate for helping those doing it tough and protecting people who are most at need in the community".
"Helping lead and reshape icare is an important role, it’s something I am passionate about, and am very honoured to be entrusted with the task," Mr Robertson said.
Footnote: The precise value of Mr Nagle’s wife’s contract was later reported to be $772,524.