‘Not a good look’: witnesses refuse to appear before NSW parliamentary hearings after court ruling

Witnesses are refusing to appear before New South Wales parliamentary inquiries due to a recent court ruling, in a move labelled as having a “completely unacceptable” impact on public interest investigations. In December, the NSW court of appeal ruled that provisions of the Parliamentary Evidence Act allowing for arrest warrants were invalid on the basis that they impaired the court’s institutional integrity. Changes to the more than 100-year-old act come after James Cullen, the chief of staff of the premier, Chris Minns , launched legal action in October to avoid facing an inquiry examining the leaking of confidential minutes from a report into the proposed sale of Rosehill Racecourse in Sydney. The president of the legislative council, Ben Franklin, proposed to seek a warrant for his arrest through the court under 1901 provisions covering witnesses who are not parliamentarians and ignore summons. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email It followed an earlier confrontation between the premier’s and police minister’s staff and another parliamentary committee over the Dural caravan investigation . Five staffers, including Cullen, eventually agreed to appear after they were threatened with arrest. In March this year, the Australian high court granted special leave for an appeal against the court of appeal, which is unlikely to be heard until September. After the judgment, witnesses have already chosen not to appear before parliamentary inquiries in 2026. …