The NSW parliament has officially entered caretaker mode ahead of the general state election on March 25, during which government activity will slow to a minimum.
While routine government business will continue as usual, as a general rule, no significant new decisions, initiatives, appointments, or contractual undertakings are made during the period.
It comes after the government prematurely adjourned parliament from the start of the week, sparking questions over whether an Upper House committee into alleged corruption in the Hills Shire Council would continue to sit.
The committee delivered its report as one of the final acts of the 57th NSW parliament on Thursday evening, with a scathing assessment of key witnesses who avoided providing evidence.
Committee chair Sue Higginson said the deliberate refusal of witnesses, including two of Premier Dominic Perrottet's brothers, to appear before the inquiry was unprecedented.
Charles and Jean-Claude Perrottet, property developer Jean Nassif, Liberal party operative Christian Ellis and his mother Hills councillor Virginia Ellis, were all found to have deliberately avoided the inquiry.
Ms Higginson said in the report the contempt shown for the committee's role raised serious questions about the operation of the Liberal Party in NSW.
"The only way this committee could shed some light on these allegations is for those involved to come forward and give their account," Ms Higginson said.
"Their co-ordinated, deliberate and serious efforts to evade scrutiny inevitably leave the perception that there is something to hide."
The report recommended the influence of property developers on the council be probed by the state's Independent Commission Against Corruption.
It also recommended a further inquiry be established by the next parliament with a view to the involvement of both Perrottet brothers as well as Mr Ellis and Mr Nassif.
"This inquiry has raised questions that are too serious to leave unanswered simply because this parliament has run its course," Ms Higginson said.
"For this reason, the committee has recommended that a new inquiry into these matters be established in the next parliament."
