Campbell Newman man Jon Grayson ‘not sure’ of AWH tie

CAMPBELL Newman’s top public servant now says he “cannot be sure’’ if he has had official dealings with an Australian Water Holdings director.

CAMPBELL Newman’s top public servant now says he “cannot be sure’’ if he has had official dealings with an Australian Water Holdings director just a month after denying any contact with his former business partners.

Jon Grayson, who until last year was in a joint “gasfields’’ ­venture with the company at the centre of the NSW corruption ­inquiry, categorically ruled out to The Australian any contact with representatives of AWH or its Queensland subsidiaries since a one-off meeting to cut board ties in March 2012 when he first joined the government.

But emails, tendered to the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, reveal the boss of AWH’s Queensland subsidiary, Wayne Myers, who had been a board director with Mr Grayson in the gasfields venture, telling AWH colleagues of his upcoming meeting with Mr Gray­son in June 2012.

“I am meeting with DG Premiers (I believe you know him) and Carl Wulff CEO Ipswich City Council at 11am next Monday to discuss the operational and logistical issues surrounding (council) taking control of the Ripley Valley development and how the associated infrastructure can be funded,’’ Mr Myers wrote.

AWH had negotiated a $5 million agreement with land developer Sekisui House — with discussions being led by Eddie Obeid Jr — in Ipswich’s Ripley Valley.

Mr Newman’s spokesman issued a statement yesterday saying that, while the meeting went ahead with Mr Wulff, there was no record of Mr Myers attending.

“Mr Grayson recalls Mr Wulff brought other people with him to the meeting, but he cannot be sure Mr Myers was one of them,’’ it said. “No matters were discussed that presented any conflict of interest for Mr Grayson.’’ The spokesman could not say if other representatives of AWH or any of its subsidiaries were present.

Mr Grayson, hand-picked by Mr Newman as director-general of Premier and Cabinet, was revealed by The Australian as being AWH’s sole partner in Gasfield Water Management and later a partner with Mr Obeid Jr and former AWH boss Nick Di Girolamo, in Gasfields Water and Waste Services. The companies have been trying to push into the coal-seam gas sector in the disposal of waste water and were central to AWH’s business plans.

Last month, Mr Grayson, through a spokesman for Mr Newman, said he was not aware of any government dealings with the “gasfield companies’’ or official meeting with any representatives of AWH or its subsidiaries after a one-off meeting with Mr Di Girolamo to step down from the GWM board.

“Mr Grayson has had no other contact with Mr Di Girolamo and has not facilitated or encouraged any meetings with Queensland government officials and is unaware of any occurring,’’ the statement said.

Mr Grayson deregistered the joint venture company Gasfield Water Management late last year, as ICAC was investigating allegations that some of AWH’s expansion costs into Queensland were secretly billed to the state-owned Sydney Water.

Mr Grayson last year was one of six founding shareholders in new company Gasfield Water and Waste Services, along with Mr Myers, Mr Obeid Jr, Mr Di Girolamo, businessman Tony Bellas and Mr Obeid’s cousin Dennis Jabour. Mr Obeid and Mr di Girolamo have since transferred their holdings in GWWS to Mr Jabour, and Mr Grayson has retained his stake.