Karen Webb gave gin to Alan Joyce, PR bosses, reveals register NSW Police tried to keep secret
Police Commissioner Karen Webb gave bottles of her Commissioner’s gin to the heads of a PR firm she hired for ‘media advice’ before she became Police Commissioner.
NSW
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NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb hired a private PR firm for media training while she was in the running to be appointed as the state’s top cop, later giving the firm’s bosses two bottles of gin purchased by the taxpayer.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that Ms Webb did not pay spin doctors DEC PR for their media training, but did give the company’s founder, Agata Kenna, and chief executive, Michael Henderson, each a bottle of the Commissioner’s Gin in 2023.
A secret register described the gifts as “corporate etiquette”.
DEC PR also has a “business relationship” with Ms Webb’s husband, Marc Webb, who sells luxury cars.
Quizzed during a press conference in Dubbo on Thursday, Ms Webb said she had earlier hired the PR firm for “media advice” before she was commissioner.
“I engaged them for professional services, for some media advice on about three occasions before … that announcement,” she said.
Ms Webb said she could not use the NSW Police’s Public Affairs Branch for the advice because she was competing against other candidates within the force for the job.
The Daily Telegraph revealed Ms Webb’s links to DEC PR ojn Thursday morning, after unearthing a picture of Ms Webb alongside Ms Kenna in 2022. She was attending an International Women’s Day event, organised by DEC PR, and held at the Maserati dealership where Ms Webb’s husband worked.
DEC PR CEO Mr Henderson confirmed Ms Webb had engaged the company in a “professional capacity” and the firm knew her husband having done “extensive work” for the automotive industry.
“The team at DEC PR has a business relationship with Mr Webb via the extensive work we do in the automotive industry,” he said.
Ms Webb maintained on Thursday that she only found out after the fact that thousands of dollars’ worth of gin had been purchased from her long-time friend Michael Hope’s distillery.
That is despite emails, revealed by The Telegraph on Wednesday, which indicated Ms Webb was involved in the process months before any purchase was made.
She also said that she started the process of recording which gifts NSW Police handed out, something which had not occurred before.
“The creation of a gifting register was something I started,” she said.
MINNS BACKS WEBB
Premier Chris Minns, on Thursday, dismissed questions about why Ms Webb gave a bottle of gin to executives from a PR company linked to her luxury car dealer husband.
Mr Minns defended Ms Webb, saying he had no evidence she misled the public about the personalised gin.
“I don’t have evidence that she has misled the public. I mean, she’s been public and fully articulated and explained the circumstances of those gifts,” he said.
However, Mr Minns welcomed that Ms Webb had now banned the practice of giving alcohol as gifts.
When quizzed, he would not say whether the gifts should be investigated by relevant integrity agencies.
“I don’t dictate to integrity agencies what they do and don’t investigate, but they’ve got full power to investigate anything they want,” he said.
When asked if Ms Webb retained his complete confidence, Mr Minns said “yes”.
“It’s a highly complex and difficult job being the Police Commissioner of NSW, my experience with the Police Commissioner has been that she has been solidly focused on ensuring police recruitment, (so) that we have a modern police force focused on some of the most difficult issues facing the state,” he said.
Meanwhile, independent MP Rod Roberts reiterated questions about when a register accounting for the gifted gin bottles was created.
Mr Roberts forced NSW Police to provide information regarding the register’s metadata, in a bid to show when it was created. However, documents tabled to parliament on Wednesday night shed no light on the matter.
The register, revealed by the Telegraph on Wednesday, contained at least one error.
It is understood Ms Webb gave a bottle of gin to Qantas’ security chief Luke Bramah. The register recorded the gin being given to a “Luke Blanch” – who does not exist.
Ms Webb yesterday said she had started the process of recording which gifts NSW Police handed out, something which had not occurred before. “We didn’t have a gifting register, so I started that,” she said.
Later, in a statement, Ms Webb said she had been cleared of wrongdoing by the police watchdog.
“The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission has previously investigated the purchase of Commissioner’s Gin and not found any evidence of serious misconduct,” she said.
“A summary of their report is available on their website … I have discontinued the practice of corporate gifting of alcohol as I acknowledge it is not in line with community expectations.”
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