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My daughters BF (aka The Stuntman) is in the pilot. No spoilers.Looks like we are still in the process of getting our shit setup
Starring Morgan Harper and Brendan Hands.Looks like we are still in the process of getting our shit setup
f**king amateur hour with this mob...Meanwhile......
From the SMH:
Transport Minister Jo Haylen fighting for political survival after chief of staff resigns over scandal
By Alexandra Smith
Updated November 3, 2023 — 4.53pm
NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen’s chief of staff has sensationally quit after it emerged the junior public servant he parachuted into the office was doing political work while on secondment, including collating a list of Coalition backflips and organising a barbeque to celebrate Labor’s election win.
Scott Gartrell, a long-term Labor staffer, resigned on Friday afternoon as a tranche of documents were due to be tabled to parliament which showed that Transport for NSW employee, Kieren Ash, engaged in political work while in Haylen’s office.
Gartrell arranged for Ash to be seconded to Haylen’s office just weeks after the junior bureaucrat had run Labor’s unsuccessful election campaign in the inner west seat of Balmain.
The resignation will put intense pressure on Haylen, who has faced heavy criticism for the appointment of Transport Secretary Josh Murray, who has long links to Labor, as well as the role of public servants in her office with party ties.
A junior bureaucrat seconded to Jo Haylen’s office engaged in political work, including drafting reponses to Coalition criticism.CREDIT: DION GEORGOPOULOS
Haylen has asked her department head to investigate Ash, who held the position in her office of department liaison officer. That position has strict requirements, including not undertaking any work that could be seen as political.
However, the minister was forced to write to Murray on Friday in his “employer capacity for all necessary action” after a series of emails authored by Ash due to released under a parliamentary order indicated that he may have broken the rules of his employment.
In a series of emails, Ash referred to government MPs as “our Labor colleagues” and agreed to help organise a barbeque in Haylen’s Summer Hill electorate to celebrate 100 days of the Minns government.
On May 10, Ash circulated a “backflips timeline” with a list of Coalition MPs who were responsible during their time in government, including former transport minister Andrew Constance and former planning minister Rob Stokes.
Transport Minister Jo Haylen (right) with Kieren Ash, who is sitting with a dog, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese the morning after the federal election last year.CREDIT: DEAN SEWELL
Ash also emailed staff asking for “any notices of motions for our colleagues for the next fortnight of Parliament” and made a range of suggestions, such as the return of the Freshwater ferries, and “maintenance/cleaning insourcing”.
Ash also drafted lines on how Haylen should respond in Parliament to questions about transport from Coalition MPs, including new members, suggesting the minister say “it’s their mess we inherited [from the former government] and we were elected to fix”.
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In a statement, Haylen said: “After being made aware of the existence of a number of documents, my office has subsequently written to the Secretary of Transport for NSW to request that the department look into whether some actions conducted by a DLP in the minister’s office were in line with their employer obligations.
“It is clear that the practice of requesting Departmental Liaison Officers from TfNSW, whilst not against the rules, has created questions around the role of DLOs and their relationship with the ministerial office,” Haylen’s statement said.
However, the opposition seized on the latest revelations engulfing Haylen and said the investigation into Ash should be conducted by the Public Service Commissioner Kathrina Lo, not Murray.
Opposition Transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward said, “the investigation is nothing more than an attempt to throw a junior staffer under the bus to protect a minister.”
“Does any reasonable person think Josh Murray, the Minister’s handpicked secretary is really going to find the Minister committed any wrongdoing?,” Ward said.
“A controversially Labor appointed secretary is investigating the minister who got him the job regarding an operative her office requested doing political activities – it doesn’t pass the pub test.”
Ash’s appointment later drew the attention of then-acting transport secretary Howard Collins, internal documents previously released to parliament revealed.
An email between transport officials on July 4 showed that Collins raised concerns about Ash sticking to the boundaries of the role when Gartrell asked to extend his time in the minister’s office from three to 12 months.
“Howard raised with Scott his concerns to ensure Keiran [sic] adheres to the parameters of the scope of a DLO role,” the email states.
Can’t wait to hear the excuses………
Man, that Jo Haylen... I've been banging on about her in this thread every week since the election
!
www.theguardian.com
What a classy guy this No campaigner turns out to be...
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