NSW Premier, Police Minister staffers to front Dural caravan inquiry after arrest threat
Inquiry chairman and independent MLC Rod Roberts confirmed on Wednesday the staffers would attend a special hearing on Friday after Legislative Council president Ben Franklin ruled it was within his right to seek warrants for their arrest.
Summonses had been issued for Mr Minns Chief and Deputy Chiefs of Staff, James Cullen and Edward Ovadia, Director of Media Sarah Michael, as well as Ms Catley's Chief and Deputy Chiefs of Staff, Ross Nielson and Tilly South, to appear.
Premier Chris Minns has refused to front the public inquiry and on Wednesday afternoon slammed the arrest threat as a 'dangerous precedent' and accused the Legislative Council committee of calling the staffers as a 'punitive measure'.
'I think that the very troubling information that staff would be arrested and held potentially overnight via police custody is a massive overreach,' he said, going on to accuse the committee of being what was 'close to a kangaroo court'.
Mr Minns also accused inquiry members of showing 'inherent bias'.
The inquiry has been a flashpoint between the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council, where Labor relies on support from the crossbench.
It seeks to establish who knew what and when about the Dural caravan, an explosives-laden caravan found in Sydney's north earlier this year, and any connection with the passing of controversial anti-hate and anti-protest laws in February.
Mr Minns initially described the caravan as having the potential of having caused a 'mass casualty event', though police later alleged it was part of an elaborate criminal conspiracy that involved other alleged anti-Semitic attack in Sydney.
Mr Roberts told 2GB on Wednesday an undertaking had been given that the staff would attend after Mr Franklin sought legal advice from Brett Walker SC, one of the country's foremost experts on constitutional law issues.
He described the reversal as a 'very big back down'.
It comes amid a separate inquiry into anti-Semitism in NSW.
The hearing is expected to run for three hours.
Originally published as NSW Premier, Police Minister staffers to front Dural caravan inquiry after arrest threat
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