Conflict of interest fears in Warragamba Dam probe

An investigation into allegations that traditional owners were offered bribes in exchange for their support for raising the Warragamba Dam wall was handled by a law firm with links to WaterNSW.

Gundungurra traditional owner Kazan Brown. Picture: AAP

An investigation into allegations that traditional owners were offered bribes in exchange for their support for raising the Warragamba Dam wall was handled by a law firm with links to WaterNSW, raising major concerns of a conflict of interest.

The bribery claims were made during a NSW upper house parliamentary inquiry on November 6 last year.

Traditional owner Kazan Brown told the hearing Registered Aboriginal Parties were offered inducements, including access to culturally significant sites and employment offers, in exchange for supporting the project.

The allegations sparked an “independent” internal investigation, with WaterNSW engaging Melbourne-based law firm Sparke Helmore Lawyers to provide legal advice. The report found “no bribe or inducement was offered to her for her support of the project”.

Sparke Helmore, however, previously employed WaterNSW corporate lawyer regulatory & compliance Daniella Zuvela, raising concerns about the investigation, which was supposed to be undertaken at arms-length from the government agency.

Ms Zuvela began working for the firm in March 2006, rising to become a senior associate before leaving the business in August 2010. She started at WaterNSW in September 2020, just two months before the investigation began.

The Australian is not suggesting any wrongdoing on the part of Ms Zuvela or claiming she had a conflict of interest.

In a statement on December 24, WaterNSW annou­nced the ­internal investigation, carried out by an “independent legal firm”, concluded the inducement claims were unsubstantiated.

“The investigation, carried out by an independent legal firm, interviewed relevant participants involved in the 2019 meeting where the alleged comments were made,” the statement said.

The accusations from Ms Brown, a Gundungurra elder, stemmed from a meeting between Registered Aboriginal Parties, a WaterNSW employee and a member of Niche, the consultancy engaged to handle the cultural heritage assessment for the dam wall raising.

The investigation process involved interviews with four people directly or indirectly employed by WaterNSW, in addition to Ms Brown. In their conclusion, the agency pointed to clarifications Ms Brown made during the course of giving evidence.

“Although Ms Brown may have felt that she was bribed, in fact no bribe or inducement was offered to her for her support of the project,” the statement said.

One of the leading critics of the Warragamba Dam raising, Colong Foundation general manager Harry Burkitt, said the revelation raised concerns of a conflict of interest in the investigation, which “marred the findings” of the “supposedly independent process”.

“All this investigation has to show for itself is an eight-sentence media release on Christmas Eve,” Mr Burkitt told The Australian.

“The questions must be asked: who are Sparke Helmore Lawyers and what was the procurement process undertaken by Water­NSW to find them?”

A spokesman for WaterNSW said: “WaterNSW selected the legal firm to undertake the investigation from among the law firms registered on the NSW Government Legal Services Panel. The ­selection process was consistent with the panel’s rules.”

The Australian has previously revealed two of the country’s leading ­archaeologists had warned the NSW government’s review of how the Warragamba Dam raising would affect significant Indigenous sites was too narrow, flawed and failed to take into account ­intangible heritage.