NSW premier swings the axe as department bosses sacked

The Labor government has sacked its most senior transport official, Rob Sharp, just hours after it announced a whole-scale review of a Sydney metro network that Premier Chris Minns said needed “rescuing”.

The secretary of Transport for NSW is one of a number of department bosses sacked, as the government swings the axe across the public service.

Sacked secretary of Transport for NSW Rob Sharp, and former transport minister David Elliott.Credit: James Brickwood

The government refused to confirm the departures on Thursday night, but the Herald understands Minns will announce Sharp’s departure – along with Department of Education secretary Georgina Harrisson – on Friday. There was also intense speculation over the future of Treasury secretary Paul Grimes.

Sharp’s departure was not unexpected. The Labor government has been highly critical of a series of cost blowouts on the city’s metro network, and on Thursday Minns announced a major review of the projects to be led by former high-ranking federal transport bureaucrat Mike Mrdak.

“These projects are in trouble – they need rescuing,” Minns said.

Minns is expected to announce the departures alongside other changes to the state’s bureaucracy. On Thursday, he refused to rule out changes to the machinery of government, telling reporters he had “promised a new direction”.

“If changes to the machinery of government are needed in terms of auditing and in terms of oversight, in terms of delivery, then I’m open to that,” he said.

It marked the second external review of the transport department since the government was elected last month. The Transport Minister, Jo Haylen, appointed former National Transport Commission chair Carolyn Walsh to conduct an audit of Sydney’s beleaguered railway network following several high-profile network shutdowns and disruptions.

At the time Haylen pointedly noted that she had decided to conduct an external review despite advice from department bosses that it could be done internally.

“What I have learned alarms me,” Haylen said following initial briefings with the public service last month.

Sharp’s departure comes after two tumultuous years at the helm of one of the state’s most vexed departments.

After being appointed by former minister Andrew Constance, his tenure was marked by protracted disputes with the state’s rail union, as well as a public falling out with former transport minister David Elliott.

The two men publicly contradicted one another over their version of events following the sensational shutdown of the city’s rail network in February last year during an industrial dispute.

During a tense budget estimates hearing, Sharp produced documents which he said showed Elliott’s office had been briefed on the shutdown – which occurred during the protracted industrial dispute which plagued the city’s rail network for months, something Elliott denied.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.