for the vacant role of executive director of public affairs went down like a lead balloon within the force and most Sydney media outlets. Jackson,a media veteran who most recently worked on Seven’s uber-grubbySpotlight program,was hired for a six-month contract and no one else was interviewed. The position pays somewhere between $300,000 and $350,000 a year. One of the many reasons the appointment raised eyebrows was because a personal acquaintance recommended him for the gig. That personal acquaintance just happened to be Ross Neilson,the chief-of-staff for Police Minister Yasmin Catley.
Police Minister Yasmin Catley,Steve Jackson,and Police Commissioner Karen Webb.Supplied
It takes a special kind of incompetence to drag your government into another “jobs for the boys” scandal (remember the saga surrounding Transport Minister last year?) but Neilson,Catley and Webb have managed to mangle the handling of this key appointment at every step of the process.
Following a series of scandals and self-inflicted damage,the commissioner entered March in desperate need of a circuit breaker. For Webb,selecting a new senior executive to help restore her reputation and with it the public’s confidence in NSW Police top brass required an appointment that was nothing short of a masterstroke.
The decision to hire Jackson fell far short of that benchmark. He was a senior producer onSpotlightand was intimately involved in the program’s interview with former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann. The program repeatedly claimed Lehrmann was not paid for the interview,but it later emerged in court that Seven was for a year at a total value of more than $100,000. It also emerged last week that nearly $3000 was charged to a Seven corporate card for the services of two Thai masseuses asSpotlight attempted to secure the exclusive interview with Lehrmann. Lehrmann has denied using the services. Jackson,who was not present on the night,reportedly suggested the employee who incurred the charges,who has since left Seven,ask the masseuse to reverse the transactions and take cash instead.
Jackson’s NSW Police appointment of him with a naked woman he had just interviewed at her apartment on Christmas Eve,2019. In one photograph,Jackson is sitting on a beige lounge nursing a beer and the woman is next to him with no clothes on. In another,Jackson is aiming his phone camera towards her face while she is naked. TheHerald has opted not to name the woman,but she has since said the pictures were taken at her “lowest ebb”.
Finally,the appointment has between Jackson and his formerSpotlight colleague,Taylor Auerbach. Auerbach lost his job at Sky News Australia amid the fallout from Jackson’s hiring.
The whole fortnight has been a total mess. How could Jackson possibly represent NSW Police and the commissioner,given the response to his employment? The answer – which was obvious from day one – was that he could not. Yet for days Catley,Webb and even Premier Chris Minns effectively told everyone it was a non-issue and we should all look the other way.
I appreciate this has been a story that many busy readers have probably not engaged in. It may seem like a story which the media is interested in but the public not so much. But in my view this story matters a great deal because it goes to three key points.
First,it is another example that the commissioner’s judgment is often lacking at crucial times. She failed to grasp the public interest in the tasering of great-grandmother and then the alleged murders of. In an attempt to fix all through the hiring of a new spin doctor,she has again stumbled. Goodwill for the commissioner is fast running out.
Second,Jackson’s hiring adds to the perception – fair or otherwise – that the Minns Labor government,which came to office promising transparency and accountability,has a little too much of a say in who lands lucrative public service gigs.
Finally,the whole affair is another reminder that Catley is not up to the role of police minister. Facing sustained questioning in parliament last week over the matter,Catley laughed at the dispatch box and showed clear contempt for the opposition seeking to hold her accountable. It was an excruciating performance to watch for the many ministerial colleagues who know she is floundering and could see that the process behind Jackson’s appointment was destined to blow up in the government’s face.
,“whether it is now or when Minns decides to pull the trigger on a frontbench reshuffle,Catley is finished as police minister. The premier knows it. Cabinet ministers know it. Police officers know it.”
Thanks for reading,and have a great Easter weekend.
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