James O’Doherty: Gin bottles leave Karen Webb stranded on the rocks

In the latest bizarre twist, Police Commissioner Karen Webb said that she gave two bottles of gin to a PR company after she employed the same firm for media training when she was in the running for her top job.

Police Commissioner Karen Webb has found out the hard way that the cover-up always makes matters worse.

The state’s top cop now faces serious questions over her judgment — because at every turn, her response has been wanting.

When it was first revealed that Webb used taxpayer funds to buy gin from a distillery owned by her old mate Michael Hope, the Commissioner insisted she was just continuing a practice from her predecessor.

In an attempt to defend her position, she said the gin had been bought for “visiting commissioners and dignitaries”.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb during a press conference at the Sydney Police Centre. Picture: NCA NewsWire

If that was the intent, it was not what happened.

Being generous, of the 32 bottles handed out, only 18 went to anyone fitting that description — including 15 given to an international policing conference.

The list that the Commissioner tried to hide from the public included PR executives linked with a luxury car dealership where Webb’s husband worked, the then Qantas boss, a law firm, and departing staff.

Spin doctors, airline execs, and a law firm are hardly “visiting commissioners” nor “dignitaries”.

Nor are the handful of staff and police officers who were lucky enough to get a bottle of personalised Pokolbin Dry Gin on their way out the door.

Webb also insists that she “didn’t organise the purchase” and that she only “became aware after” that she knew the supplier.

The label on the bottles of gin that were given as gifts.

However, emails exchanged between her office and Hope Estate suggest otherwise.

“Think CoP (Commissioner of Police) likes the blue label gin to use,” someone in Ms Webb’s office said in an email to Hope Estate on October 5 2022.

That same staffer then dumped Webb in it again: “I have just been told that the CoP would like some bottles to be available to be given out as Christmas gifts,” they emailed the distillery a week later.

What truly beggars belief is why the Commissioner, and those advising her, allowed this entire saga to fester for months and months.

Firstly, Webb’s office ignored a well-meaning public servant’s warnings against buying the gin.

The founder of a PR firm who received a taxpayer-funded bottle of gin from Police Commissioner Karen Webb was pictured alongside NSW’s top cop in an International Women's Day event held at the luxury Maserati dealership where Ms Webb's husband worked.

The Commissioner’s then-chief of staff Christine McDonald (who now runs the Burwood Police Area Command) said she would flag the warnings with her boss, something which Webb said never happened.

Then, the Commissioner gave a flimsy defence of her actions, saying she was just doing what her predecessor had done (seemingly without giving any thought to whether that was a good idea in the first place).

When forced to turn out the list of recipients, Webb hid behind a heavily redacted PowerPoint-style slide deck, before trying to keep the full register secret.

Questions about bottles of gin are swamping Police Commissioner Karen Webb. Picture: AI generated

At every turn, Webb has ducked for cover, dodging serious questions about why she used taxpayer funds to buy booze which appears to have been handed out with little to no scrutiny.

In the latest bizarre twist, Webb said that she gave two bottles of gin to a PR company after she employed the same firm for media training when she was in the running to be Commissioner.

That raises further questions about why they were hired, and who paid.

Given the Commissioner’s media performances, the PR firm should probably be giving her a refund, rather than accepting gifts of gin.

Ultimately, Webb should have copped it sweet back in August, for the truth always catches up to you in the end.

If nothing else, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission must consider reopening its investigation into this whole affair, if it has not already done so.

It should also lift the non-publication order on its investigation into the initial purchase which found Webb did not break the rules.

Premier Chris Minns hardly leapt to the defence of Webb on Thursday.

He ticked all the usual boxes, by insisting Webb still enjoys his full support and insisting she is doing a good job, but he stopped short of backing his Police Commissioner’s decision to give bottles of booze to PR bosses and Qantas executives.

“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.

He said Webb is doing a “highly complex and difficult job,” and 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”.

Minns continues to stand by his Police Commissioner.

But the Premier is hardly jumping through hoops to come to Webb’s aid.