Emails reveal what Transport Minister Jo Haylen knew about staffer Kieren Ash’s political work

Under-fire Transport Minister Jo Haylen says she only dealt with a Labor-linked public servant on loan to her office on matters within his remit despite new emails surfacing about Kieren Ash’s prohibited work.

Under-fire Transport Minister Jo Haylen has maintained that she only ever dealt with a Labor-linked public servant on loan to her office on matters within his remit.

That’s despite new emails, revealed by The Daily Telegraph on Monday, showing what Ms Haylen knew about Transport for NSW advisor Kieren Ash’s work.

Ms Haylen has been under sustained pressure over whether she knew Mr Ash was doing banned political work while on secondment to her office, including when he sent political attack lines to use against the Opposition in Parliament.

Ms Haylen knew that Mr Ash had written her a draft opinion piece that he wanted pitched to the media - something that is not part of a DLO’s responsibilities as outlined by government policy.

“My engagement with this public servant was wholly within his role as a DLO,” Ms Haylen said.

Under fire.... Transport Minister Jo Haylen. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

She said the DLO handbook allows for public servants to work on the “preparation of policies, preparation of speeches, media releases, (and) op-eds”.

However, writing opinion pieces is not one of the “key responsibilities” of a DLO as outlined in the handbook.

Asked how she could not be aware of what was going on in her office, Ms Haylen said: “I reject the premise of your question”.

Ms Haylen’s department is investigating whether Mr Ash acted outside the bounds of his remit as an impartial public servant.

Meanwhile, Premier Chris Minns defended one of his own staffers for sending political attack lines to Mr Ash, suggesting they could be used in parliament.

“My staff member contacted a member of Jo Hayden’s office, and my understanding is … (that) my staff member wasn’t aware of the individual titles in another Minister’s office and had some urgent information to pass over which was time sensitive,” he said.

“I think a reasonable person will say that if you’re not a member of that team, you wouldn’t necessarily know who does what in the office.”

SHOCK EMAILS REVEAL WHAT HAYLEN KNEW

The Daily Telegraph earlier revealed Ms Haylen was aware that ­Kieren Ash was doing work potentially outside his remit as a ­“departmental ­liaison officer” (DLO), after analysing almost 1800 pages of emails released to parliament.

Minister for Transport, Jo Haylen during NSW Parliament Question Time. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

In June, Mr Ash emailed a “draft op-ed” on decarbonising infrastructure to Ms Haylen’s private email address, for her “review”.

A week later, Ms Haylen responded: “Where did this get to team? I’m keen to get out something in this space asap thanks”.

Mr Ash then tried to get the media team to pitch the piece to newspapers.

Writing opinion pieces is not one of the “key responsibilities” of a DLO, as outlined in the official DLO handbook.

They are also banned from doing “party political activities” and attending meetings where “political matters are discussed”.

In August, a staffer emailed Ms Haylen saying Mr Ash had summarised an EV lobby report – calling for a “strong Fuel Efficiency Standard”.

The handbook states DLOs can “manage issues” raised by stakeholders, suggesting his engagement with the EV Council was within the rules.

Pittwater Labor candidate Kieren Ash.

Documents produced to parliament also reveal that Mr Ash repeatedly hassled the department about extending his ­secondment, at the request of Ms Haylen’s then chief of staff Scott Gartrell.

In an email to the Transport Secretary’s chief of staff Susan Carroll, Mr Ash said his three-month time frame was an “oversight” that should be “corrected”, but was rebuffed.

The Telegraph revealed on Friday that Mr Ash emailed Ms Haylen’s senior staffers political attack lines to use in parliament, in what the Coalition said was a clear rule breach.

Ms Haylen told budget estimates that Mr Ash had been working within the rules.

“The work that I engaged with this relatively junior public servant on … was in line with his responsibilities as a public servant,” she said.

Liberal Roads spokeswoman Natalie Ward said: “It’s clear in black and white, she was aware”.

Ms Haylen’s spokesman said: “information for op-eds, media releases and media responses comes from the department in draft form and the media team makes changes”.