Chris Minns says threats to arrest staff over Dural caravan hoax are a ‘giant overreach’ and driven by conspiracy

Premier Chris Minns has blasted a parliamentary inquiry threatening to arrest his senior staffers over the Dural caravan hoax.

Premier Chris Minns has criticised the upper house inquiry into the Dural caravan hoax as a “giant conspiracy” and accused the Opposition, Greens and Independent MPs of overreach for threatening arrest warrants against three of his senior staffers.
Minns has also accused Upper House politicians of trying to “intimidate” young people out of working for the state government, claiming the Legislative Council was threatening to arrest staffers in pursuit of a “conspiracy theory”.

The Premier launched his extraordinary broadside after The Daily Telegraph revealed his three most senior staffers would be summoned to appear before the parliamentary inquiry probing the discovery of an explosive-laden caravan in Dural.

Under legislation governing parliament, warrants could be issued for the staffers’ arrest if they refuse to appear.

Mr Minns said it would be “extraordinary … to give arrest powers to Mark Latham, Mark Latham’s mate, and the Greens”.

“That’s a power that should be held by NSW Police or an investigation agency, not some random crossbencher in the NSW Upper House who’s got the latest conspiracy theory that he or she wants to track down,” Mr Minns said.

He suggested it could be a tactic to bully “young people who want to join the NSW Government,” by suggesting they could be subject to arrest or a “major public inquiry”.

“That’s an intimidating prospect,” he said.

Speaking on Tuesday to 2GB’s Ben Fordham, Minns said the investigation wrongly assumes the government knew from the outset that the explosives-filled caravan was a staged threat, and used it to justify hate speech legislation.

“It’s a conspiracy based on the false claim that we knew everything from the beginning and used it to push through laws to counter anti-Semitism,” he said.

Minns added the threat was real at the time, pointing to arson attacks targeting Jewish homes and a childcare centre, regardless of the later discovery it was part of a hoax.

He labelled the potential use of archaic parliamentary arrest powers “a desperate grab for relevance” and said police, not politicians, should be handling such investigations.

It comes after revelations that arrest warrants could be issued for Minns’ three most senior staffers if they continue to refuse to appear before a parliamentary inquiry into the “Dural caravan” incident.

The Dural property where police discovered a caravan full of explosives. Picture: Damian Shaw

The Daily Telegraph can reveal inquiry chair Rod Roberts will, on Tuesday, sign summonses compelling Mr Minns’ chief of staff James Cullen and Mr Cullen’s two deputies – Sarah Michael and Edward Ovadia – to give evidence to a parliament inquiry.

Under legislation governing parliament, which Mr Roberts concedes is “pretty draconian”, the trio could face the possibility of arrest if they refuse to appear.

It is understood the staffers in question plan to refuse the legal summons.

The staffers will be compelled to explain what the government knew about the caravan packed with old explosives discovered in Dural when it put tough new hate speech laws before parliament.

The inquiry was established shortly after Australian Federal Police declared the explosive-laden caravan was part of a “fake terrorism plot” and “con job” hatched by criminals wanting “to cause fear for personal benefit”.

The Telegraph has previously revealed police believe Sydney businessman Sayet Erhan Akca was behind the contrived plot, in an attempt to leverage a lenient court outcome.

Akca fled Australia by boat while on bail after being charged over an alleged 600kg drug importation scheme.

Three of Premier Chris Minns’ staff have been summonsed to appear before an inquiry. Photo: Gaye Gerard

The Upper House inquiry is demanding to know whether senior figures in the Minns government knew the explosive-laden caravan was a hoax when it tried to push through tough hate speech and anti-protest laws through parliament.

The laws made it a crime to intentionally incite racial hatred, and restricted protests near places of worship.

The inquiry attempted to call Premier Minns and Police Minister Yasmin Catley to appear, but both refused.

The Premier’s Chief of Staff James Cullen is one of the three staff compelled to appear. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

Upper House inquiries cannot compel members of the Lower House to attend inquiries.

In their stead, the committee invited Mr Cullen, Ms Michael and Mr Ovadia to appear, but the trio refused.

Mr Roberts said he would sign summonses under the Parliamentary Evidence Act, forcing the three staffers to appear at the committee’s next hearing.

If the staffers refuse to appear, the Upper House could compel President Ben Franklin to ask a Supreme Court judge to issue warrants for their arrest.

“The next stage of the process may be the issuing of warrants by the Supreme Court for their apprehension (so they can) be brought before the committee,” Mr Roberts said.

“They either need to appear before the committee or face the possibility of arrest.”

“We are heading for a showdown at the O.K. Corral.”

Committee chair Rod Roberts (right) said the matter is heading for a “showdown at the OK Corral”. Picture: Monique Harmer

Mr Roberts acknowledged the powers to compel witnesses are “pretty draconian” but said the staffers were only called because their bosses refused to appear.

In a statement, a government spokeswoman said it was “not appropriate” for staff to be called before the upper house inquiry, as it was subject to a separate probe by parliament’s lower house.

She said the lower house had commenced an inquiry into “concerns which have arisen” from the Dural caravan inquiry.

“Because of this, we believe it is not appropriate for ministerial staff to attend the hearing until this is settled.”

The summonses come after parliament’s upper house scoured the country looking for witnesses who it wanted to give evidence into an inquiry into allegations of Liberal Party branch stacking in the Hills District.
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