Newman public servant Jon Grayson to cut Obeid link

PREMIER Campbell Newman’s top public servant has agreed to offload his stake in a private company linked to the Obeid family.

PREMIER Campbell Newman’s top public servant has agreed to offload his stake in a private company linked to the Obeid family after mounting pressure within senior ranks of the Queensland government and the Liberal ­National Party.

Jon Grayson, director-general of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, yesterday blamed “unwarranted’’ media attention over his decision to divest his business interests, which included a company he founded last year with Eddie Obeid Jr and former Australian Water Holdings boss Nick Di Girolamo

The announcement was made just minutes after Mr Newman, who has repeatedly defended Mr Grayson, told parliament that his top bureaucrat was the victim of smears and innuendo.

“In relation to Mr Grayson, there has been a lot of scary music,’’ Mr Newman told parliament in response to unsuccessful opposition demands he release Mr Grayson’s pecuniary interest.

It is understood Mr Grayson — who has previously denied any conflict of interest or wrongdoing — made the decision amid mounting anger from Newman government cabinet ministers and senior LNP officials over his refusal to sever ties with the ­companies.

For the past month, Mr Grayson has maintained he held only a “passive interest’’ in the businesses.

One of the companies, Gasfields Water and Waste Services — which Mr Grayson set up with Mr Di Girolamo and Mr Obeid — is being run by sole director Dennis Jabour, a cousin of Mr Obeid.

Last month, Mr Jabour told the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption hearings that he still worked for his uncle, disgraced former NSW Labor minister Eddie Obeid Sr.

In his letter to Mr Newman, which was tabled in parliament, Mr Grayson blamed media ­attention on his business interests for his decision.

“I acknowledge the media ­attention, while unwarranted, plays an important role in our democratic society,’’ Mr Grayson said in the letter.

“However, continued media coverage of this issue has the potential to distract from important tasks as we strive to make the Queensland government the best public service in the country.

“Accordingly, I am advising you that I will divest my interests in full without consideration in private companies which I have a direct interest and had prior involvement in management.’’

Last year, The Australian revealed that Mr Grayson had entered into a joint venture — Gasfields Water Management — in 2011 with AWH, the company at the centre of the NSW corruption inquiry, which allegedly used hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds to expand into Queensland.

Mr Newman said he wrote to Queensland’s Crime and Misconduct Commission last month about Mr Grayson’s shareholdings. Acting CMC chairman Ken Levy, who last year consulted with Newman government advisers before publicly backing a state government crackdown on bikies, then wrote to ICAC saying there was no evidence to warrant a CMC investigation.