Arrest warrants considered as Minns staffers skip explosives inquiry
Five senior government staffers could face arrest after defying formal summons to appear before a parliamentary inquiry into the Dural caravan incident.
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The threat of arrest now hangs over five of NSW Premier Chris Minns’ top advisers after they refused to front a parliamentary inquiry investigating a suspected terror plot.
The five senior ministerial staffers failed to appear before a NSW parliamentary inquiry on Friday morning, prompting the committee chair to formally request the President of the Legislative Council to consider seeking arrest warrants.
The Legislative Council inquiry, chaired by independent MLC Rod Roberts, commenced at 10.45am on Friday but was forced to adjourn for 30 minutes after none of the five summoned witnesses, senior advisers to Premier Chris Minns and Police Minister Yasmin Catley, arrived.
The hearing was ultimately abandoned without a vote, after Mr Roberts formally acknowledged the no-show and delivered a lengthy statement criticising the government’s ongoing resistance to the inquiry.
“I am disappointed in the government’s continued efforts to hinder and frustrate the work of this committee, and ultimately, the role of the Legislative Council to scrutinise the actions of government,” Mr Roberts said.
“The committee will now consider further action in relation to these witnesses under section 7 through 9 of the Parliamentary Evidence Act 1901.”
Speaking to the press from outside NSW parliament, Mr Roberts said he met with the president of the council Ben Franklin to deliver the resolution of Friday morning’s committee.
“I just expressed to him what the committee’s determination was this morning, that we believe we should be pursuing warrants for the arrest of these people to bring them before the committee so we can obtain from them the evidence that we require,” Mr Roberts said.
“The President will take the weekend to consider carefully his moves, and he’s set up to then go to the Supreme Court, seek an appointment with the justice and apply for warrants for the detention and apprehension of those who have failed to comply with the summons.”
Those summoned included Mr Minns’ chief of staff, James Cullen; two senior advisers from the Premier’s office, Edward Ovadia and Sarah Michael; and two staffers from Minister Catley’s office, Dr Tilly South and Ross Neilson.
Their appearance was meant to shed light on who in government knew what, and when, regarding the discovery of an explosives-laden caravan in Sydney’s northwest in January.
The Premier had previously described the incident as a potential “mass casualty event”. Although the Australian Federal Police later determined it was a hoax and part of a criminal conspiracy.
The circumstances surrounding the government’s response, and whether MPs passed sweeping anti-hate laws in February based on incomplete information, remain under intense scrutiny.
A letter sent to the committee chair on Thursday and signed by the five staffers outlined their refusal to appear.
They argued that attending would breach “the principles of ministerial accountability and comity between the Houses of Parliament,” particularly while a separate privileges inquiry by the Legislative Assembly is ongoing.
The group also took aim at Mr Roberts’ earlier media comments.
“Given your comments on breakfast radio yesterday as to the motivation for issuing the summonses – which make it clear we are ‘proxies’ because our respective Ministers cannot be compelled as witnesses to the Select Committee – we also consider that they have not
been properly issued,” the letter read.
“In light of the above, we invite you not to press for our attendance at the hearing tomorrow.”
Mr Roberts rejected those arguments in his closing statement, asserting the inquiry was properly constituted and that ministerial staff were not exempt from appearing.
He labelled the absence a “very bad move” for Chris Minns and his staffers and added the arrest could “hypothetically, (be for) an extended period of time”.
“I want to draw it to people’s attention that in the press conference yesterday, the Premier said he doesn’t want his staff attending,” Mr Roberts said.
“Now, this is the law, L-A-W. The summons is a lawfully issued document, and the Premier has told people disregard the law.
“Had that been me standing on a soapbox in the middle of Martin Place, telling people to disregard the law, I’d probably be locked up.
“I’m asserting that the Premier is aiding abetting and encouraging his staff to break the law. This is a very, very bad look.”
Leader of the Opposition Mark Speakman echoed the sentiment saying that “if Chris Minns has nothing to hide, why won’t he front up to the inquiry? Why won’t he let his staff in front of the inquiry?”
“There’s no issue of principle here that entitles the Premier to direct staff not to appear, if there is nothing to hide, they should appear,” Mr Speakman said.
“There is a matter of the rule of law here. The premier is basically telling the committee, the legislative council, the parliament and the general public, that he and his staff are above the law.
“No one is above the law in NSW, and if there is a lawful direction to appear, that should be complied with.”
Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig has previously condemned the inquiry as “an incursion upon the privilege” of the Legislative Assembly.
“It expressly seeks to scrutinise the discourse of the House, the conduct of its members, be it backbencher or a member of the executive government, while undertaking the primary function entrusted upon them by their constituents which is to legislate,” Mr Hoenig said during Question Time in May.
He argued the Legislative Council had overstepped its bounds by summoning ministerial staff and attempting to examine lower house proceedings.
Despite the controversy, the Legislative Assembly passed a motion 47 to 27 to refer the inquiry’s terms to the Standing Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Ethics.
In response, Mr Roberts amended the inquiry’s terms to narrow its focus to the passage of relevant bills through the upper house. Mr Hoenig, however, insisted the changes “did not go far enough”.
Opposition MP Alister Henskens said the amendments were sufficient to avoid breaching privilege and labelled the referral motion “a transparent attempt to frustrate and delay the upper house inquiry”.
Greens MP Jenny Leong said it was “critical” that the Legislative Council was not prevented from doing its work, warning that any “unreasonable delay” would raise concerns about the Premier and executive trying to “subvert” the inquiry.
Speaker Greg Piper defended the committee’s progression, saying the changes were not intended to obstruct but instead “an opportunity to actually examine the issue, the rights and privilege, the exclusive cognisance of the Legislative Assembly”.
The committee has previously heard from senior police officials, including then NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb and Deputy Commissioner David Hudson.
With Friday’s hearing abandoned and potential legal action looming, the inquiry is now at a crossroads.
Originally published as Arrest warrants considered as Minns staffers skip explosives inquiry
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