The New South Wales transport secretary, Josh Murray, made a donation to Jo Haylen’s campaign before she picked the former Labor staffer to lead her department.
Limited details of the $500 donation were contained in emails that were released to parliament between members of Haylen’s team discussing talking points related to the appointment of the secretary.
Documents revealed that in response to the question “have Josh and [redacted] made any donations to your campaign?”, Haylen, the state’s transport minister, said, “yes, but they were of a non-declarable value”.
Two “donations we know of” were listed. One was a $500 donation from Murray in September 2022 and a second from a person understood to be linked with Murray for an unknown amount the following month.
They were made ahead of the March 2023 election, which Labor won and Haylen was appointed as transport minister.
Other talking points listed included advice for Haylen to say the appointment was made after a “market testing process” and a “global search”.
Murray’s position has come under scrutiny after Haylen revealed her office intervened for her pick to be added to the selection process before she chose him for the almost $600,000-a-year role.
A spokesperson for Haylen said on Monday that she had “no private interests in this matter”.
“The minister takes her responsibilities under the ministerial code of conduct extremely seriously,” the spokesperson said.
“NSW has amongst the strictest political donation rules in the country and individuals who make political donations are subject to those rules and are required to make relevant disclosures in accordance with the law.”
The premier, Chris Minns, earlier conceded that the $125,000 recruitment process was unnecessary.
“If there’s a direct appointment, it’s obviously and consequently no need for a recruitment process,” he said. “In retrospect, it wasn’t required.”
Under the Government Sector Employment Act, it is within the minister’s powers to choose a department head.
Murray was the chief of staff to former Labor premier Morris Iemma before becoming the head of people at Laing O’Rourke, an international engineering and construction company that handles major projects, including some transport infrastructure.
Other documents previously released to parliament revealed Haylen was warned to anticipate a “jobs for the boys” controversy as she prepared to announce that she had chosen a former Labor staffer to lead her department.
Haylen was advised to describe Murray’s role as “a huge and serious task” and “not some cushy job in New York”, in an apparent reference to former deputy premier and Nationals leader John Barilaro’s appointment to a plum trade role after his retirement from politics.
The opposition has accused Labor of “breathtaking hypocrisy” given its criticism during the Barilaro saga.
Murray, Transport for NSW and the premier have been contacted for comment.
