Dural caravan inquiry committee explore arrest warrants for NSW staffers over failure to give evidence
Five New South Wales government staffers face possible arrest warrants after defying a summons and not appearing before an Upper House inquiry into the Sydney Dural caravan plot.
The five staffers asked to be excused from Friday's hearing in a letter, after being summonsed to give evidence about what and when the state government knew about the plot, after the caravan was found laden with explosives in January amid a spate of antisemitic vandalism.
The ABC understands the committee will go to the president of the Legislative Council Ben Franklin to ask if he could request arrest warrants in the NSW Supreme Court.
NSW Premier Minns had flagged the staffers — some of who worked for him — would not give evidence on Thursday, calling the inquiry into what the state government did or did not know about the alleged plot a "star chamber".
At the state parliament's Macquarie Room on Friday morning, committee members waited to see if the five staffers would turn up, with their empty chairs carefully labelled.
Inquiry chair and independent MP Rod Roberts said he was disappointed the witnesses had not turned up, describing it as a "very serious matter" and saying further action will be considered.
"I am disappointed in the government's continued efforts to hinder and frustrate the work of this committee and ultimately the role of the legislative council to scrutinise the actions of government."
Mr Roberts concluded the hearing with a short statement about the intention behind the staffers being summonsed to appear.
"This committee was established to determine whether members of parliament debated and passed hate speech and protest laws through parliament based on misleading or incomplete information."
During the committee, Mr Roberts revealed a letter dated June 19 undersigned by staffers and asking to be excused from appearing was received on Thursday.
In the letter, the staffers said their giving evidence before the select committee would "be at odds with the principles of ministerial accountability and comity between the House of Parliament".
The letter also stated that a separate parliamentary inquiry could also consider the compulsion of ministerial staff to give evidence, suggesting it infringed parliamentary privileged "or otherwise offends principles of our Westminster system of government".
The letter ends with the request to be excused from the hearing.
Mr Roberts told the hearing he objected to the arguments made in the letter.
"It is a fundamental role of the Upper House to hold the government of the day to account."
Before concluding the hearing, Mr Roberts said the witnesses scheduled to appear had failed to comply with the summons.
The committee is believed to be considering its next step.
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