Former Parramatta CEO Gail Connolly returns to the witness box

Welcome to our coverage of day 22 of the public Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry into the City of Parramatta council and its former chief executive Gail Connolly.

Under Operation Navarra, the ICAC is investigating whether council staff members, central among them Connolly, misused public funds by having staff leave through deeds of release (agreements made between staff and the council upon a departure), subverted the council’s recruitment and other processes, disclosed confidential information to third parties, and spied on staff and a councillor.

Among the evidence heard on Friday was that Connolly made staff redundant, characterised these departures as resignations, and obscured this fact to councillors in reports and in confidential briefings by directly informing them that no one had been made redundant.

The commission alleges that, by characterising redundancies as resignations, Connolly was attempting to have an advantage in the restructuring process by “convincing” councillors to accept her plan, and enabling her to rely upon the position as vacant – appearing less costly than it would have appeared if the council had been told that the vacancy was created through a resignation that involved material costs.

The inquiry is expected to resume at 9.30am with counsel assisting Joanna Davidson, SC, continuing to question Connolly. It was indicated on Friday that the questioning may not last all day, potentially allowing time for cross-examination and re-examination today.