Dominic Perrottet loses two key men over scandals

NSW Finance Minister Damien Tudehope has resigned from cabinet despite a departmental probe clearing him of breaching the ministerial code of conduct.

Former NSW finance minister Damien Tudehope. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

NSW Finance Minister Damien Tudehope has resigned from cabinet despite a departmental probe clearing him of breaching the ministerial code of conduct.

Premier Dominic Perrottet said he had accepted Mr Tude­hope’s resignation after revelations he held more than $65,000 in Trans­urban shares in a self-­managed super fund.

“Tonight I have accepted the resignation of Finance Minister Damien Tudehope,” Mr Perrottet said on Friday.

“My department provided advice to me earlier today which cleared Damien, saying he did not knowingly breach the Ministerial Code of Conduct.”

Mr Tudehope’s resignation came hours after Liberal upper house MP Peter Poulos stepped down from his role as parliamentary secretary on Friday afternoon following an explicit photo scandal involving a female rival.

Mr Poulos shared photos of Hawkesbury MP Robyn Preston that appeared in men’s magazine Penthouse to party members five years ago, at the time the two were competing for preselection.

Mr Perrottet said he received and accepted the resignation. “He’s obviously made a mistake, he’s apologised for that … he doesn’t want to be a distraction for me for the campaign,” he said.

A $30bn global roads giant, Transurban operates 11 roads across Sydney – including the recently opened WestConnex and NorthConnex – and Mr Tude­hope has been in cabinet while policy decisions have been made in relation to the company.

Under the code of conduct, a minister can hold an interest in a superannuation fund if it is a “blind trust”, or if the minister has “no influence over particular investment decisions of the fund” and isn’t invested in a business sector that could give rise to a conflict of interest.

In a statement, Mr Tudehope said while he had been cleared by the Department of Premier and Cabinet probe, he wanted to ensure the episode was not a distraction ahead of the election.

“During the course of the day, I have had the to consider my position and I value my own integrity and the integrity of the government to be something that is not the subject of repeated political ­attacks,” he said.

Mr Tudehope said while he had participated in discussions relating to toll relief for motorists on Transurban roads “from time to time”, he had not recused himself from conversations because he “did not know” he held the Transurban shares as part of his superannuation fund.

“I have always taken my obligations as a minister extremely seriously. I take my obligations in life very seriously. I take my obligations to perform honestly, in terms of the interests of the ­people of this state, very seriously,” he said.

“I repeat again, I hold a diversified superannuation, I did not know one of the assets … in that family superannuation funds included Transurban shares.”

Mr Tudehope’s shares were held in a self-managed super fund he said had been established in 2014 by a firm of financial advisers who had responsibility for it.

He has, however, been required to get his shareholding signed off by the Premier’s office each year.

Refusing to apologise for the lapse, Mr Tudehope said he had written to the Premier to resolve the question of whether he had breached the code of conduct.

In addition to publicly supporting the government’s sale of roadways to Transurban, he voted against a Labor bill in 2020 that would have provided motorists with a toll-free period on motorways owned by the company.