Dirt file points finger at more ‘jobs for the boys’ in Transport Minister’s office

A department liaison officer working in the office of Transport Minister Jo Haylen has been dragged into the ‘jobs for the boys’ controversy after being named in an anonymous ‘dirt file’.

A department liaison officer working in the office of Transport Minister Jo Haylen has been dragged into the “jobs for the boys” controversy after being named in an anonymous “dirt file” detailing his extensive Labor affiliations.

The anonymous file did the rounds on Friday as an Upper House inquiry probed the ­appointment of former Labor staffer Josh Murray to the ­almost $600,000-a-year transport secretary role.

Under Department of Premier and Cabinet guidelines, department liaison officers are employees assigned to minister’s offices from agencies within the minister’s portfolios.

They are not members of the minister’s staff, and guidelines state they “must be politically neutral and impartial” and “must avoid party political activities”.

Ms Haylen’s DLO is Keiran Ash, who has previously worked for Labor MPs Jodi McKay and Tania Mihailuk — who has since joined One Nation — and sitting MP Ron Hoenig.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen has been under fire this week. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Adam Yip

Mr Ash stood as the ALP candidate for the seat of Pittwater in 2015.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Mr Ash started as DLO in the office of the NSW Minister for Transport in May 2023, after having worked as a Transport for NSW senior policy officer since August 2021.

While there is no suggestion Mr Ash’s employment represented a breach of any departmental guidelines, or that he’s not suitable for the position, the “dirt file” — believed to have come from the Liberals — suggested it was another example of “jobs for the boys” where the Labor government was handing jobs to its own.

A spokesman for Ms Haylen said Mr Ash was seconded from the department “in accordance with the established processes that govern the secondment of DLOs.”

Asked whether Mr Ash had worked in any capacity for the ALP since taking on the DLO job, the spokesman said “no”.

“The secondment was approved by the Department in accordance with the established processes that govern the secondment of DLOs,” he said.

A Labor source claimed the Coalition had hired multiple people with party affiliations during its time in government.

Committee members are yet to determine if and when to resume the inquiry.

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Originally published as Dirt file points finger at more ‘jobs for the boys’ in Transport Minister’s office