4.50pm on Jun 12, 2026The ‘vibes’ that made a council boss think she’d be sacked a year before she wasBy Cindy Yin, Anthony Segaert and Michael RufflesOusted City of Parramatta chief executive Gail Connolly suspected she would be fired by councillors a year before it happened, according to evidence aired at the Independent Commission Against Corruption.Day 21 of the ICAC’s Operation Navarra public inquiry heard Connolly made staff redundant, characterised the departures as resignations, and “obscured” this fact to councillors in reports and in confidential briefings. She directly informed councillors that no one had been made redundant.Gail Connolly arrives at the Independent Commission Against Corruption.Sam MooyOn her fourth day as a witness, Connolly said it was “clear I was going to be terminated” in the lead-up to the September 2024 local government elections, more than a year before she was eventually sacked by councillors in a rowdy late-night meeting on October 13, 2025.“I just generally accepted that at some point in the immediate future, an extraordinary meeting would be called [for me] to be terminated,” she added.4.17pm on Jun 12, 2026Hearing to go until at least TuesdayBy Anthony SegaertWe’re done for the week. Hatzistergos says he suspects to sit again on Monday and on Tuesday – though Counsel Assisting’s questioning may go “maybe not all of Monday”.“That would be good,” Connolly’s barrister Andrew Pickles says, with a smile.4.06pm on Jun 12, 2026Connolly considered going to Liverpool CouncilBy Anthony SegaertConnolly considered leaving Parramatta Council to go to the beleagued Liverpool City Council before she was eventually sacked, she says.“My view was that there was potentially a CEO opportunity coming up at Liverpool in the short term, but other councils as well,” she says. Liverpool is significant because there was (and still is) a cloud hanging over the council as it waits upon the findings of a lengthy Office of Local Government public hearing. The thinking at the time was that it may be put into administration – without councillors, and a new chief executive.3.41pm on Jun 12, 2026Connolly expected to be sacked a year before she wasBy Anthony SegaertConnolly feared she would be sacked by councillors a year before it happened.“In the lead-up to the [September 2024 local council] election, it was clear I was going to be terminated,” Connolly says. “I just generally accepted that at some point in the immediate future, an extraordinary meeting would be called [for me] to be terminated.”She was eventually sacked by councillors on 13 October, 2025.Liberal Parramatta councillor Steven Issa.LinkedInConnolly is being asked about what specific evidence she had for this belief.3.17pm on Jun 12, 2026Connolly denies breaching terms of Local Government ActBy Cindy YinConnolly has just denied suggestions put to her that she breached terms in the Local Government Act which required her to act honestly toward the council and elected councillors, and her council’s own councillor-staff interaction policy.Davidson: “Clause 3.6, with a reference to the principles there, including that the interactions between councillors, and staff are to be ethical, open, transparent, honest, and display the highest standards of professional conduct. Did you breach those obligations in respect of describing the departure of Ms Cavanagh in the documents provided to the council and the councillor briefing session as a resignation?”Connolly: “No.”Davidson: “Did you comply with the requirement of Section 439 of the Local Government Act, requiring you to act honestly in the discharge of your functions in describing to the council and the councillors a briefing session of the 21st of February, and in the support documents Ms Cavanagh’s departure as a resignation?”Connolly: “Yes.”2.28pm on Jun 12, 2026Connolly said fellow Pink Lady had never reported to herBy Anthony SegaertWe’re back from lunch, and still on that transcript of the confidential councillor meeting where Connolly was proposing a new staff structure.During that meeting, Connolly told councillors about her relationship with Angela Jones-Blayney, one of the other council staff who are being investigated by the ICAC. Jones-Blayney was a close friend of Connolly and a member of the “Pink Ladies” – the social group of friends who met at Ryde Council.Jones-Blayney appears at the ICAC in May.Sitthixay DitthavongShe told councillors she “hadn’t worked with Angela [Jones-Blayney] for eight or ten years and she never reported to me when I was at Ryde”.But Davidson has put it to Connolly that Jones-Blayney did in fact report to her at Ryde when she was acting chief operations officer.2.09pm on Jun 12, 2026Three councillors watching proceedingsBy Anthony SegaertOne function of the layout of the ICAC’s public hearing room is that, similar to many courtrooms, a witness must walk through the public gallery and open area outside the room.Today, that means Connolly has had to walk past three current City of Parramatta councillors – one of whom was in that confidential councillor briefing we’d heard about before lunch, where Connolly described the extensive redundancies as resignations.Independent councillor Kellie Darley, who has been in attendance at the inquiry almost every day, is joined today by first-term councillors Judy Greenwood of the Greens and Manning Jeffrey of the Liberals.For the duration of her evidence, Connolly has kept her eyes down and stayed in her legal team’s small meeting area off the side of the main hearing room.1.20pm on Jun 12, 2026Here’s the latestBy Cindy Yin and Anthony SegaertAs the inquiry heads into a lunch break, here’s what you need to know about what has happened so far today:We’ve heard evidence so far that Gail Connolly, the former boss of the City of Parramatta, made staff redundant, characterised these departures as resignations, and “obscured” this fact to councillors in reports and in confidential briefings by directly informing them that no one had been made redundant.The commission alleges that, by characterising redundancies as resignations, Connolly was attempting to have an advantage in the restructuring process by “convincing” councillors to accept her plan, and enabling her to rely upon the position as vacant – appearing less costly than it would have appeared if the council had been told that the vacancy was created through a resignation that involved material costs.The inquiry heard extensive evidence in the morning about how Connolly sought to have senior staff exit the organisation; she had senior staff enter into deeds of release (agreements to have significant payouts and agreed communications about an exit) and used a “carrot and stick approach” to “lever” their signing of them.Connolly agreed with questioning from Counsel Assisting Joanna Davidson SC that she had restructured the council staff without approval from the council. She later presented a restructuring plan to the council that relied on those “resignations”.Chief Commissioner John Hatzistergos asked repeatedly why she didn’t just tell the councillors what really happened with the staff. She said that doing so would have breached the deeds she had signed.Connolly repeatedly attempted to explain to the commission that councillors could not be trusted to keep confidential matters confidential, and offered to “sit down” with the ICAC to write recommendations from this inquiry about how to improve NSW councils.In the morning session, Connolly said she “can’t recall” 29 times and “I don’t recall” seven times.12.59pm on Jun 12, 2026Confidential meeting recording reveals councillor probes about payoutsBy Anthony SegaertThe commission is now looking at a recording of a confidential councillor briefing where Connolly discussed these staff exits we’ve heard so much about today. Connolly presented the exits of senior staff, including Bernadette Cavanagh, Nicole Carnegie, Bruce Mills, and others as resignations.Councillor Sameer Pandey directly asked Connolly asked about it.Pandey: “How many of these staff level three or EDs who have resigned, paid termination, contract termination or redundancy?”Connolly speaks at the ICAC.ICACConnolly: “There’s been one termination only, which was paid out under the contract, and that was [Bruce Mills]. So, the rest were resignations. So, they were paid their entitlements.”12.38pm on Jun 12, 2026Transcript: ‘Why wouldn’t you tell the councillors?’By Cindy Yin and Anthony SegaertHere’s a transcript from this extraordinary exchange between Hatzistergos and Connolly over whether she obscured information from councillors about the exit of one of the council’s most senior staff members.The discussion below came as the commission was looking at a council report signed off by Connolly and presented to councillors in February 2024 when she was seeking their approval for a restructuring. It was in this report Connolly wrote that HR boss Bernadette Cavanagh, who signed for a payout under a redundancy, resigned.Hatzistergos: Why wouldn’t you tell the councillors?Connolly: Because councillors have no role, councillors are not permitted under the code of conduct to approach staff or staff not approach councillors –1 of 3