NSW Premier Chris Minns dealings with his friend and Australian Turf Club (ATC) executive Steve McMahon around the proposal to sell and redevelop Rosehill racecourse are set to be referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).
A key recommendation of the Upper House Select Committee into the ATC’s proposal to sell Rosehill has been leaked ahead of the publication of the final report on Friday, with widespread media reports that Minns’ relationship with McMahon has been highlighted.
McMahon, the ATC’s head of corporate affairs and government relations, met with Minns and his chief of staff on October 30 last year to discuss the idea of closing, redeveloping and selling off Rosehill.
All parties at that meeting, listed as an ATC meet and greet in the Premier’s diary, said it was quickly decided that the proposal should be referred to The Cabinet Office as a matter of process and probity.
However, the fact McMahon was able to get a meeting with the Premier on four days’ notice drew scrutiny from several members of the Select Committee, which was set up to probe the circumstances of the proposal.
McMahon and Minns had served together on the Hurstville City Council and McMahon said during his testimony before the Committee they had been friends for around 25 years.
The Rosehill Select Committee, chaired by Liberal MP Scott Farlow, has formed a view that the relationship should have been declared by the Premier.
Bren O’Brien
The report makes reference to Operation Keppel, the ruling which relates to former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her relationship with disgraced MP Daryl Maguire.
It will now be up to the ICAC, the state’s corruption watchdog, to decide if it investigates.
Minns has issued a strongly worded statement refuting he has done anything wrong.
“The allegations made tonight are completely unsubstantiated, and based on no fact or evidence," he said.
“It’s disgraceful to politicise the ICAC with unsubstantiated rumours.
“There is absolutely no evidence or even an attempt to quantify what rule, practice or procedure has been breached.
“This is an old fashioned smear from a group of politicians opposed to changes at Rosehill.
“But while opposing a policy may be understandable, unsubstantiated allegations of corruption is a cynical attempt at political point scoring.”
The full report with the Select Committee’s recommendations, will be published at 10:30am on Friday.
The Minns government will have three months to respond to recommendations from the Select Committee. It is not compelled to act on the recommendations, but it is required to provide a response.
