NSW Ombudsman slams failures to investigate corruption claims at Maitland mining titles office

The Ombudsman's deep dive into the handling of Stockton-based whistleblower Rebecca Connor's corruption claims reveal massive gaps in reporting and documentation, and scant investigations into dealings between staff and mining agents.

The public interest disclosures which Ms Connor and others at the Maitland mining titles office made and which "showed or tended to show corrupt conduct", were never properly handled or investigated, the report says.

It comes 10 years after the Independent Commission Against Corruption warned of a policy and regulatory environment "conducive to corruption", with weak processes and lack of transparency as factors in corrupted Hunter mining licence processes.

That led to the jailing of former ministers Eddie Obeid and Ian MacDonald, and former union boss John Maitland.

Ms Connor has called for the report to be made public, and for some accountability.

"I think it just demonstrates how much of a shambles this has been," Ms Connor said. "It's like they've looked at it with painted-on eyes. There needs to be a full ministerial investigation. And then these people need to face the full weight of the law."

The Ombudsman focused on the assessment, handling, investigations and responses to internal reports of 'wrongdoing', such as misconduct, maladministration and corruption between 2014 and 2018.

The public interest disclosures, were made to the Division of Resources and Geoscience (now known as the Division of Resources and Geoscience, which was then part of the Department of Planning and Environment (now moved to the Department of Regional NSW).

The conduct of the former DRG was "unreasonable", in that it failed to lawfully manage public disclosures which, for example, should have been reported to the Ombudsman and detailed in annual reports, but were not.

The Maitland mining titles office also failed to maintain records, failed to fully investigate the disclosures, and failed to act on "serious issues highlighted by the disclosures", the report says.

The alleged misconduct includes "inappropriate relationships" and conflicts of interest between mining titles staff and mining agents; the potential leaking of information to a mining company; 'lost' mine application objections, and staff being directed to destroy potentially sensitive information.

The office also did not take appropriate action in relation to Ms Connor's allegations that she was sacked due to complaints made about her in an act of reprisal from staff named or implicated by her.

Ms Connor, who did a two-year stint at the office as Manager, Titles Operations, was shown the door the day after she revealed the unlawful approval of the world's first scandium mine in Nyngan.

The EMC Metals Australia Pty Ltd mine is estimated to generate more than $1.5 billion in revenue, with a pre-tax profit of nearly $1 billion over 20 years on a footprint since reduced by two thirds.

An Agricultural Land Objection, from 83-year-old Nyngan farmer Owen Carter who owns nearly 60 per cent of the 870 hectares which EMC planned to mine, was "lost". It turned up after the mine was approved.

That should have sparked a process in which Mr Carter's objection was determined, and the mining application re-assessed, but that never happened, Ms Connor says.

Instead, Mr Carter was forced to take the matter to the Land and Environment Court, which declared the mining lease grant "invalid" in 2019.

"As it happens, the mining lease was granted in contravention of the Mining Act 1992," Justice Brian Preston said in his judgement, handed down on June 12, 2019.

Mr Carter's objection was "overlooked", and the "Minister had no power to grant the mining lease", he said.

EMC has since made a second application which does not include Mr Carter's farmland, however, until or unless Mr Carter's objection is dealt with, the original application for the larger mine remains active.

The Department of Mining, Exploration and Geoscience confirmed this week that the original application is "progressing through assessment against the requirements of the Mining Act 1992".

The matter weighs heavily on Mr Carter who is desperate for certainty.

He has lost two of his three sons in the past six months, including 59-year-old Joel Carter one who was found dead on the property on January 25, and is being investigated by Homicide detectives.

"It's still hanging over his head," Mr Carter's solicitor, Andrew Butcherine said this week. "He's jammed in the middle and it's caused the whole family a lot of angst."

A copy of the report has not been shared with Mr Carter, or his solicitor.

The Department of Regional NSW received a draft version of the report in May last year.

Six months later, staff from that office, together with staff from the Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole, whose brother Grant Toole lives on an adjoining property to Mr Carter, met with the Ombudsman's office.

More than a month after that meeting, a heavily redacted copy of the report, in which the entire section devoted to internal reporting is blacked out, was provided to Ms Connor.

The Ombudsman's office has confirmed that the report will not be made public.

In response to questions from the Newcastle Herald about the Ombudsman's investigation and findings, the Department of Mining, Exploration and Geoscience issued a statement saying it would "continue to work with the NSW Ombudsman in relation to these historic matters."

"The investigation relates to historical allegations that were raised in 2017 and 2018 within the then Division of Resources and Geoscience," the statement says.

"Since that time there has been significant structural and leadership changes to what is now known as Mining, Exploration and Geoscience within the Department of Regional NSW.

"Significant oversight, policy, procedural changes and training have been undertaken with the majority of the recommendations addressed or underway."

IN THE NEWS:

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Join the discussion in the comment section below.

Find out how to register or become a subscriber here.