Parramatta’s ‘Pink Ladies’ plotted council restructure while on holiday together, ICAC hears
Before Gail Connolly was appointed head of Parramatta City staff, an employee gave the council’s second most powerful staffer a list of names he expected to soon be working on the council, an anti-corruption investigation has heard. All of the mentioned names became business owners in a short time.
Justin Mulder was western Sydney council’s chief of staff when Connolly became chief executive in 2023 and witnessed the “emptying of the organization and its capacity”, Wednesday’s inquiry into the former boss and other staff heard.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption in Operation Navarra is investigating multiple allegations against Connolly, including that he spied on staff and a councilor and used classified information for improper purposes, including rewarding allies and eliminating critics or perceived opponents.
It is also being investigated whether two colleagues, Roxanne Thornton and Jones-Blayney, deliberately subverted hiring practices to benefit their friends and colleagues. Counsel Assistant Joanna Davidson, SC, said in her opening statement that the trio were known as the “Pink Ladies” or “Pink Operations”.
Mulder said ‘Pink Operations’ talked among staff about playing netball, socializing outside of work and going on holiday together. He had heard from a colleague and other staff at Ryde Council that they were planning a restructuring of Parramatta Council during a recess.
Mulder said the relationship between Thornton and Connolly was “extremely close”. “[Thornton] He was almost always in Gail’s office, with frequent meetings… He conveyed to me his loyalty to Gail and said that when Gail was removed from his previous position… he resigned in protest.”
Shortly after Connolly arrived, a colleague told Mulder that Thornton had told colleagues he would “take on my role.”
“Roxanne made no secret of the fact that she told people she would take over my role,” Mulder said. “I had repeatedly heard Roxanne communicate with her colleagues that she would take on this role and speak with great confidence.”
He said Connolly had created a new legal management position and “strongly encouraged” Mulder to apply for the position. He didn’t apply because he didn’t have a law degree. The job requirement did not require a law degree or master’s degree.
“He said, ‘You don’t need to have legal qualifications, you just need to be a good manager,'” he told the inquiry. He did not accept her explanation and suspected that Connolly’s motivation for asking Mulder to move out was “to make room for Miss Thornton”.
Thornton, who the commission heard had no tertiary qualifications, was appointed to the post.
Connolly then restructured the organization and created a new “group manager” role, which took on management, mayor and CEO duties in addition to Mulder’s chief of staff roles. There was a week-long, internal-only recruitment process, and Mulder said Connolly told him he wanted Mulder and Thornton to apply. Mulder said he did not apply for the combined position because he thought the process was tilted in Thornton’s favor. He was later offered a lower-level job. He eventually received a termination document that included a mutual non-disparagement clause.
“I was worried that I would be humiliated after leaving the organization,” he said. “I had overheard negative conversations about previous staff who had left the organisation.”
The trial continues.
More to come.
Anthony Segaert is The Sydney Morning Herald’s Parramatta bureau chief. He was previously an urban affairs reporter.Connect with: X or email.
