Transport boss Josh Murray donated to Minister Jo Haylen’s election campaign before getting top job
New documents have revealed NSW’s transport boss donated to now-Minister Jo Haylen’s election campaign before he got the state’s top transport job.
NSW
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The boss of NSW Transport donated to transport Minister Jo Haylen’s election campaign less than a year before she hand picked him for the job of transport secretary.
Documents seen by The Telegraph reveal that Josh Murray, who was appointed transport secretary in July, donated $500 to Ms Haylen’s campaign in September last year.
A second $250 donation, understood to be from Mr Murray’s wife, was sent through to Ms Haylen’s campaign in October.
The revelations are contained in a briefing note about Mr Murray’s appointment.
The notes state that the amounts donated by Mr Murray and his wife didn’t meet the threshold to be disclosed.
The briefing notes – aimed at helping the Minister prepare for a grilling from the media or the opposition – also include details on how to defend the appointment if Ms Haylen was pressed on whether it represented ‘jobs for the boys’.
Mr Murray had previously worked as a staffer for former Labor Premier Morris Iemma.
The briefing notes state Mr Murray’s appointment “comes following a market testing process in which he was put forward as one of the preferred candidates for the Minister to choose from”.
“Josh is a highly qualified leader with extensive executive experience. As Group Leader of People at Laing O‘Rourke, he’s really well placed to deliver on priorities as Minister which include re-engaging our workforce and building a system that they are proud to run,” the documents state.
Last week it was voted on that Mr Murray’s posting will be examined by a NSW Government Upper House committee, after it emerged Ms Haylen’s office intervened during the interview process pushing for him to be appointed to the role.
Documents tabled to parliament revealed Ms Haylen’s chief of staff had texted Mr Murray, a former staffer for then-Premier Morris Iemma, to advise him applications were open for the role.
Emails also revealed Ms Haylen’s office recommended Mr Murray be interviewed for the role, despite a $125,000 recruitment process already being underway.
Mr Murray was only added to the shortlist of candidates considered by an independent panel after Ms Haylen’s chief of staff pushed for him to be interviewed.
The Transport Minister’s office has been contacted for comment.
PREMIER ADMITS TAXPAYER FUNDS WASTED
It comes after NSW Premier Chris Minns admitted 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”.
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