Overview

• The five summonsed advisers included Premier Chris Minns’s chief of staff, James Cullen, senior advisers Edward Ovadia and Sarah Michael, and two staffers from Police Minister Yasmin Catley’s office, Dr Tilly South and Ross Neilson.
• In a hearing aborted after a 30-minute delay, Rod Roberts cited the Parliamentary Evidence Act 1901 and signaled he will ask the upper house president to approach the NSW Supreme Court for arrest warrants.
• The inquiry aims to determine what government officials knew and when about the explosives-laden caravan discovered in Dural in January and whether the expedited anti-hate laws passed in February were based on incomplete information.
• The staffers contended that appearing before the upper house inquiry would violate principles of ministerial accountability and comity between the Houses of Parliament while a separate privileges probe is underway.
• The standoff has intensified debates over the balance of power in NSW, raising fresh questions about the scope of parliamentary oversight and executive responsibility.