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NationalNSWICAC

‘I shouldn’t have said that’: Sacked Parramatta council boss makes concessions on the ICAC stand

Anthony Segaert
Updated ,first published

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‘I shouldn’t have said that’: Sacked Parramatta council boss makes concessions on the ICAC stand

By Michael Ruffles and Anthony Segaert

Sacked Parramatta Council chief executive Gail Connolly has admitted to an anti-corruption inquiry that she shared confidential information about other candidates and interview questions with friends who were later employed at the council.

In her fifth and longest day as a witness at the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s inquiry into the large western Sydney council, Connolly was questioned about deleted text messages and photographs, weekends away with friends and colleagues, and whether she used the death of a family’s pet rabbit to her advantage.

Gail Connolly arrives at the ICAC on Monday for the 22nd day of hearings.Steven SIewert

Connolly, along with City of Parramatta employees Roxanne Thornton and Angela Jones-Blayney, is accused of subverting recruitment practices to benefit friends and associates. The three were part of a group known as the Pink Ladies, or Pink Ops, whose members first worked together at Ryde Council in 2018. Connolly was described in one message presented to the inquiry as “Pink Lady No.1”.

Connolly, who was sacked in October, is also facing allegations she misused public funds by having staff leave through deeds of release (agreements made between staff and the council upon a departure), subverted the council’s recruitment and other processes, disclosed confidential information to third parties, and spied on staff and a councillor.

We’re done

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The commission has wrapped up its hearing for the day.

We’ll be back tomorrow at 9.30am.

Connolly sent interview questions to friend to ‘coach’ interviewee

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Gail Connolly sent photos of interview questions for the position of executive director city engagement and experience – a position her friend, Angela Jones-Blayney would get – to her other friend Roxanne Thornton.

Connolly sent them to Thornton “on the knowledge she’d provide them to Ms Jones-Blayney … so that she could coach Ms Jones-Blayney”, she tells the commission. She says she thought all candidates would have the questions.

“That was our standing arrangement.”

She then deleted the photos from her phone. She says she “can’t recall why” she deleted them.

“I delete a lot of images from my phone,” she says. “Probably because I didn’t want the storage … or the record on my phone.”

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‘I shouldn’t have said that’: Connolly on text messages

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Connolly has admitted she shared confidential information about other candidates in the recruitment process for Jones-Blayney.

Texts aired at the commission show Connolly texted Jones-Blayney: “I have decided to interview 5 people from the 46 who applied – 4 women and 1 male. The application from the incumbent spelt councillors as ‘councilors’ throughout.”

“Lol,” Jones-Blayney responded. “What a wanker.”

“It’s entirely inappropriate to be sharing with her your reflections on applications from the incumbent or from anybody else,” Davidson says.

“Yes it was,” Connolly replies. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

The hearing has been extended for today in a bid to get through more evidence.

Connolly asked about giving confidential information to friend at netball game

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The inquiry is hearing about how Jones-Blayney ended up with an executive director position in charge of city engagement and experience.

Connolly is being asked whether she brought confidential information about that directorate to Jones-Blayney at a netball game.

Connolly says she did so – but that it wasn’t confidential information. The information she provided to Jones-Blayney was all publicly available, just across “thousands of pages” and “different sources”.

“Do you provide this sort of service generally for other people who are interested in coming to the City of Parramatta?” Hatzistergos asks.

Connolly says she has provided similar information to others, including current acting chief executive George Bounassif.

Connolly’s other friendship questioned

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A lot of this afternoon has been dealing with Connolly’s friendship with Roxanne Thornton.

Now, in the final half-hour of the day, we’re hearing about Connolly’s relationship with Angela Jones-Blayney, also under investigation by the ICAC.

Angela Jones-Blayney and Gail Connolly at Parliament House.ICAC

The pair are “good friends”, Connolly agrees.

Jones-Blayney texted Connolly after her role at the City of Parramatta was confirmed:

Hey beautiful friend, pushing aside all the s--- you have gone through in the lead up to tonight I just wanted to sincerely congratulate you on your appointment you so very much deserve this opportunity and it won’t take them long to witness the enormous expertise, experience and talent you will bring to the role.

You already know I’m your #1 fan and rightly so, I truly admire and respect you and would walk over hot coals for you and I know that many others will as well once they come to know you

I have also had a chuckle to myself tonight when the Governance staff see how many people were logged into the extraordinary meeting! The word will get out quickly and they will all be s---ing themselves

Connolly responded: “Thanks Ang. You are truly a great friend and a great colleague.”

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‘Seriously undermining the probity’

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Davidson asks: “Would you agree that a failure to have properly documented declarations of conflicts of interest … gave rise to seriously undermining the probity of that recruitment process?”

Connolly responds: “I would.”

She says she considered recusing herself from the interview panel, but didn’t do so because everyone on the panel knew Thornton.

This is Connolly’s conflict of interest form

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This is the conflict of interest disclosure Gail Connolly made when she sat on the interview panel for her friend and former colleague Roxanne Thornton:

The conflict of interest disclosure made by Connolly for the hiring panel she sat on while interviewing Roxanne Thornton.ICAC

She didn’t write down her conflict about her friendship with Thornton, only writing down her professional history.

Connolly says she made a “verbal declaration” to others on the panel at the beginning of the interview, and that the declaration she wrote by hand was to “more fully disclose” to what she said verbally.

The declaration requires, “when a conflict of interest exists, you either need to: 1) withdraw from the recruitment process; or 2) formally declare the conflict to the panel members in writing and have this signed off by the chief executive officer”.

ICAC examines deleted text messages

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Connolly is being asked about a series of text messages with Thornton that appear to have been deleted off her phone – remnants of which remain because the pair reacted to the messages.

“I’m deleting this conversation given that KD is GI...” is one of the messages sent around the time Thornton was applying for her role at the council. Thornton “liked” the message.

Davidson put it to Connolly that “KD” was a reference to independent councillor Kellie Darley, and “GI” was the beginning of “GIPA”, the NSW freedom of information request process. Connolly said it “wouldn’t be” a reference to Darley because “councillors don’t have access to personnel matters”.

Thornton also texted: “I have finished by CV and coveting [sic] letter”. Connolly “liked” the message.

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Pink Ladies had celebratory lunch

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After both of Connolly’s friends – Angela Jones-Blayney and Roxanne Thornton – were offered jobs at the City of Parramatta council, the trio had a celebratory lunch at the popular Parramatta Square bar Ruse.

Texts aired at the ICAC show Connolly, who by then was chief executive of the council, agreed to visit the pair, who had begun a long lunch.

“Roxy will be on her fourth dirty margarita by then,” Jones-Blayney texted their group chat.

Davidson asks, in summary, if Connolly’s actions – making suggestions for her CV, removing a requirement for a tertiary qualification, and communicating her view on Thornton’s suitability to an executive director – was done for the purpose of assisting Thornton in getting the job.

After a four-second pause, Connolly says: “That’s not a simple yes or no answer, because my answer is different for the different parts of that.”

Yes, she says, she helped on Thornton’s CV to make sure she could address what the council was looking for. Her adjustment of qualification criteria “had nothing to do with Roxanne Thornton or anyone else”, she says. And her communication of Thornton’s suitability was “not necessarily for the purposes of helping her”.

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