The New South Wales transport minister, David Elliott, has denied he was told about a potential shutdown of the state’s rail network before going to bed on Sunday night, despite Labor brandishing a text message in parliament that appeared to contradict his claims.
In a stunning backdown, one day after Elliott accused the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) of “terrorist-like activity”, the minister said on Tuesday that the government had withdrawn its application seeking an end to their industrial action in the Fair Work Commission and would negotiate with them instead.
After being completely shut down on Monday, Sydney’s trains remained on a reduced timetable on Tuesday afternoon. The RTBU said they were working on a plan to resume full services next Monday, but Elliott said he hoped a compromise could be reached sooner.
In an extraordinary press conference on Tuesday afternoon, the minister insisted he was not aware in advance of the decision to shut down the network on Monday, because he went to bed while the department was still grappling with the call on Sunday night.
He also said he had not informed the premier, Dominic Perrottet, of the potential for a looming shutdown because he had gone to sleep between 11pm and midnight, before the decision was made at 12.43am on Monday morning.
Despite telling reporters that he had an “inkling” of what was to come, Elliott said he had not informed Perrottet “because I had no confirmation and I didn’t know exactly what action Transport for NSW would be taking”.
While stating that he was “OK” that officials hadn’t called him at 12.43am when the call was made to shut down the system – “because I may not have answered the phone” – Elliott said he was “asking for information” about the decision.
“We pay these people to do their job and I accept the fact that at 12.43am it was their judgment call; as executives they needed to use their discretion and close the system,” he said.
“Did I like it? Absolutely not. Am I still asking for information and details to justify the decision? Absolutely.”
But during question time on Tuesday the NSW Labor leader, Chris Minns, cast doubt on the minister’s version of events, reading from a text message he said was sent by Elliott’s chief of staff to a senior transport official just before 11pm on Sunday night stating the minister had been “briefed” on the situation.
Speaking under parliamentary privilege, Minns said that Elliott’s chief of staff told transport officials the minister had been “briefed on the major disruption from the looming shutdown” and was “comfortable” with the decision to close the system.
Responding in parliament, Elliott repeatedly said the decision to close down the network had been taken by the Sydney Trains chief executive, Matthew Longland.
Elliot said there was “no way in the world” he could have been told about the closure of the network before he went to bed on Sunday because “a decision hadn’t been made until after midnight”.
“Certainly this decision was made independently of me as would’ve been appropriate because I’m not an operational expert.”
He challenged Labor to produce “evidence” that he had been informed of the decision to close the network.
“I knew when I got up very early on Monday morning that this decision had been made and of course that the community would be inconvenienced but these decisions, as important as they are, are always made with a significant amount of communication,” he said.
During his earlier press conference, Elliott said that he had yet to see a copy of a risk assessment reportedly carried out by Transport for NSW before the department made the call to shut down the network, saying he had “requested” to see it.
But he also said he would have been obliged to follow the department’s advice – if he had been awake to receive it – because they were the experts on the matter.
The minister’s handling of the shutdown has come under increasing scrutiny since he launched an extraordinary tirade against the rail union on Monday, accusing them of “terrorist-like activity” and “hijacking the city” over what he incorrectly labelled a “strike” action.
Elliott had also claimed incorrectly that the union had failed to appear at a hearing before the commission on Sunday night. He himself had not been at the meeting, and had only arrived back in Sydney on Sunday after spending the weekend in Darwin to take part in the Veterans Ministers’ Council where he was photographed drinking a beer with prime minister Scott Morrison.
In markedly more conciliatory language on Tuesday, Elliott said that the government had withdrawn its Fair Work Commission application and that he had met with the union on Tuesday and thanked Claassens after the meeting.
He said his earlier comments on Monday had come “on a day of high emotion”.
RTBU NSW secretary Alex Claassens said the union still wanted to see the risk assessment on which the decision allegedly hinged.
He said the union’s legal team has requested it three times from the department when they were before the commission but it was never made available.
“They were asked three times to produce it. They never did produce it once,” Claassens said.
“This morning at 10am, our legal team sent a subpoena notice across to the other side, demanding the production of that documentation and by 11am they had a notice withdrawing the application in the commission.”
Minns also called for the risk assessment used by Transport for NSW to make the decision to be made public.
