Transport for NSW bosses tried to remove Rochelle Hicks after Indigenous adviser threatened to kill her

Days after Rochelle Hicks demanded action against the government adviser who threatened her life, her boss secretly plotted to remove her instead | VIDEO

Just days after a terrified Rochelle Hicks demanded that action be taken against cultural heritage manager Ian Brown, her boss sought to remove her from the Coffs Harbour Bypass project.

When an Indigenous adviser to Transport for NSW threatened to kill senior executive Rochelle Hicks last year, government officials tried to have Ms Hicks removed from her high-level job instead of sacking the man who made the threat.

Internal department documents reveal that just days after a terrified Ms Hicks demanded that action be taken against cultural heritage manager Ian Brown, her boss sought to remove her from the Coffs Harbour Bypass project because the incident was placing the $2.2bn project “at significant risk”.

Last year, The Australian revealed Mr Brown was allowed to stay in his contracted role “because he is Aboriginal and a cultural knowledge holder”, with Transport for NSW officials fearing the massive project might be shut down if he was sacked.

Ms Hicks, the deputy project director for the Coffs Harbour Bypass, said she had been “used as a sacrificial lamb” by executives who baulked at taking action against an Aboriginal man over conduct that would never be accepted from a white man.

Mr Brown – who was the subject of apprehended violence orders in 2020 – made the death threat against Ms Hicks during a meeting at the Coffs Harbour Local Aboriginal Land Council on 26 June, stating: “If I see Rochelle I will kill her.”

When another participant told Mr Brown he couldn’t make such threats, he responded: “It’s not a threat, it’s a fact.”

Ms Hicks was not present at the meeting but was left shaken when informed of the threat three weeks later – and was distraught when her bosses refused to immediately remove Mr Brown from the project. She says her boss, project ­director Greg Nash, told her that removing Mr Brown “wouldn’t be an option as it may go political, which would cause project issues”.

When she asked Mr Nash’s superior, Peter McNally, if they accepted Mr Brown’s violent behaviour because he was ­Aboriginal, Mr McNally allegedly replied: “Absolutely we do. They are treated differently and absolutely we put up with the behaviour because he’s Aboriginal.”

Newly released documents following a call for papers by Nationals MP Sam Farraway substantiate Ms Hicks’ account of the incident and its aftermath and also reveal the plan to remove her from her job after she complained.

On Friday July 21, Ms Hicks sent an email to Mr Nash, copied to Mr McNally, complaining about their inadequate response.

Ian Brown at his home near Coffs Harbour. Picture: Liam Mendes

“Do you and Peter McNally accept this language towards women outside of Transport? I am distraught at your lack of support as a leader, and I’m even further upset by the phone conversation I had with Peter McNally … indicating I have to find a solution because Ian Brown is Aboriginal (and) I must accept these behaviours.”

The following day Mr McNally sought support to have Ms Hicks removed from the project.

In an email to TfNSW officials Martin Donaldson and Andrea Rooke, Mr McNally wrote: “We’ve been aware of challenges with ­Rochelle’s behaviour … of greatest concern has been her open criticism of the project director Greg Nash … which has had a divisive ­effect on the team.

“It’s critical that we maintain a focused and stable team on the project and retaining Rochelle on site at this point will only further undermine this and place further stress on her.

“As such I need your support to remove her from the project on Monday so that we can address what is a developing rift in our own team placing the project, as well as Greg and Rochelle personally, at significant risk.”

Ms Hicks has stated she was unaware of any issues with her behaviour at any point in the project. These issues appear to have only surfaced following the complaint being lodged.

On Monday July 24, another official advised: “I suggest we may need to seek approval under the EIR delegations 3.21 suspension of employee with or without pay.”

Mr Farraway, a former transport and roads minister who worked with Ms Hicks on the Coffs Harbour Bypass project, says she was “nothing short of professional” and was “a fantastic part of the team”, adding: “They tried to performance review her out of the job and it took months and months before they really started to deal with the issue of the Ian Brown incident. You can see from the documents that no one wants to deal with it.”

Ms Hicks at the construction site of the Coffs Harbour bypass.

Many of the documents released under Mr Farraway’s call for papers have been marked confidential and heavily redacted. Others have not been not released on the grounds that they contain personal information or are subject to legal professional privilege.

In handwritten notes released, Mr Nash defends his “measured” response, claiming Ms Hicks is “acting unreasonably” and “punishing LALC” (the Local Aboriginal Land Council, for whom Mr Brown was working).

He says Ms Hicks is “unable to fully understand the gravity of a knee-jerk reaction” and is using the incident “as a vehicle to inflict damage on myself by taking a moral high ground”.

“Reckless behaviour from RH (Rochelle Hicks)”, he concludes.

Despite subsequent claims by the minister and department that Mr Brown was immediately removed from the project, the documents show this was not the case.

Ian Brown, an Indigenous man contracted as Cultural Heritage Manager on the mammoth Coffs Harbour Bypass project, made the death threat against Transport executive Rochelle Hicks.

When a decision was finally made to ban Mr Brown from the site, emails reveal something close to panic engulfing the TfNSW team as they prevaricate on informing Coffs Local Aboriginal Land Council chief executive Chris Spencer of the decision.

Mr Spencer had “committed to disciplinary action” against Mr Brown but “he would not expand what this would include”, one official reported.

By late September – more than two months after Ms Hicks sought action over the death threat Mr Brown had made against her – the TfNSW team were still trying to draft a contractual letter to Mr Spencer confirming that Mr Brown was to be excluded from project sites.

A Transport for NSW spokesperson said any complaints made concerning alleged unacceptable workplace behaviour were examined by Transport for NSW and a decision made as to whether appropriate action is to be taken.

“In this case, the Head of Regional Project Delivery, who is responsible for the project and the team delivering the Coffs Harbour Bypass and the relevant decision maker for Transport for NSW, reviewed the complaint and decided no further action be taken against the employee. There was no suspension of the employee.”