Byrne attacks Tebbutt over advisor move

Greens candidate for Marrickville Fiona Byrne has blasted her Labor opponent, Deputy Premier and Health Minister Carmel Tebbutt, on news that Ms Tebbutt’s chief of staff Scott Gartrell was departing to become chief executive of hospital development consortium InfraShore, after previously working for the group as a lobbyist.

The consortium holds a $1 billion contract to rebuild Royal North Shore Hospital.

“The Deputy Premier needs to explain to the people of NSW why there is not a conflict of interest in her staff walking out of her office directly into a key role in a related industry,” Ms Byrne said.

She called for a ban on ministers and their senior staff moving directly from public office to private sector positions relating to their portfolios.

“In NSW you can be a ministerial staffer one day and the CEO of a related industry the next,” she said.

“Senior ministerial advisers have access to privileged and highly-sensitive information. We need a minimum cooling-off period, so that this information cannot be taken and used for profit by their new corporate employer.

“In November 2010 the Independent Commission Against Corruption found an inherent conflict of interest in former ministerial staff working for the private sector in their former portfolio area.”

A spokesperson for Ms Tebbutt said plans for the redevelopment of Royal North Shore Hospital, including the divestment of land, were approved in 2007, before Ms Tebbutt’s appointment to the health portfolio.

She added Mr Gartrell had “no involvement” in managing the Royal North Shore Hospital Public Private Partnership, which predated his involvement in the health portfolio.

A statement issued by Mr Gartrell denied any wrongdoing and said he was not being employed as a lobbyist with InfraShore.

Meanwhile, the NSW Opposition have added their voices to the call for an inquiry into the move, with health spokesperson Jillian Skinner referring the move to ICAC.

“We need to clarify exactly what’s happened… at a time when there’s a great deal of controversy about continuing development on the site,” she said.