Top cop’s tunnel vision: Husband’s event a priority for Webb

The commissioner’s office confirmed on Thursday that she was “unable to attend” the other events, as Premier Dominic Perrottet and his police minister Paul Toole closed ranks around their new police commissioner.Neither replied to questions yesterday about whether it was appropriate for Ms Webb to attend the ritzy lunchtime function at the dealership in Waterloo.“The first female Police Commissioner in NSW is entitled to attend International Women’s Day events,” Mr Toole said. Meanwhile, Ms Webb hit back at critics, telling 2GB radio she did “not regret for one minute” joining guests at the swanky dealership lunch because it was a Police Legacy charity event. Police Legacy did not reply to questions yesterday about whether they knew about the event in advance or if they had organised it.It raised $36,000 for Police Legacy and the PCYC, Ms Webb’s office said.She was the main draw for clients of the dealership and others, where she was photographed standing in front of a Maserati which carry price tags of over $400,000.She confirmed that her husband Marc Webb worked for the dealership, but declined to say if he was one of the principals.Mr Webb is not listed on company documents, possibly for security reasons, but he has long been one of the country’s leading luxury car dealers, winning awards with Rolls Royce and Aston Martin and lending McLarens to the police.A police spokesman said that Ms Webb had disclosed all interests as required, including her husband’s business interests. The registry of business interests is confidential for privacy reasons.“ The Commissioner received at least a dozen other invitations for International Women’s Day events, which she was unable to attend,” the spokesman said.It is not known whether these invitations were in Sydney, where the Commissioner is based. She has been attending flood regions this week.While the Premier did not comment on Thursday, his Health Minister Brad Hazzard defended the Commissioner in budget estimate hearing in NSW Parliament.He called criticism of Ms Webb “wholly unfair and unreasonable”.“She works herself, like every other police commissioner, completely into the ground and has been doing that both in her former position and in her current position and I was appalled to see that article in The Tele,” he said.“She has been working on the floods as well.”Questions for commissionerFormer Police Minister David Elliott, who now runs the transport portfolio, also went in to bat for Ms Webb, declaring she had “nothing to apologise for”.Speaking to 2GB’s Ben Fordham, Ms Webb said she had been busy fielding calls about the flood emergency “the whole time” she was at the high-end event.“International Women’s Day happens once a year, I think it’s important as Commissioner of Police that I show some leadership in terms of the messaging to young women,” Ms Webb said.“I was on point for police the whole time.”Daily Telegraph – News Feed latest episodeMs Webb said she could “imagine” flood-stricken residents’ reaction to her attending the function, but it was a “coincidence” the horror weather had happened the same day as the fundraiser.She claimed she would have been condemned whether she attended or not.“It’s one small thing I’ve done in a big week of visiting flooded areas ... I can’t account for the weather on that particular day, it had been organised in advance,” Ms Webb said.“It would’ve been a poor showing and I would have been criticised if I didn’t turn up.”She added: “You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”

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March 10, 2022 at 03:03PM
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The commissioner’s office confirmed on Thursday that she was “unable to attend” the other events, as Premier Dominic Perrottet and his police minister Paul Toole closed ranks around their new police commissioner.Neither replied to questions yesterday about whether it was appropriate for Ms Webb to attend the ritzy lunchtime function at the dealership in Waterloo.“The first female Police Commissioner in NSW is entitled to attend International Women’s Day events,” Mr Toole said. Meanwhile, Ms Webb hit back at critics, telling 2GB radio she did “not regret for one minute” joining guests at the swanky dealership lunch because it was a Police Legacy charity event. Police Legacy did not reply to questions yesterday about whether they knew about the event in advance or if they had organised it.It raised $36,000 for Police Legacy and the PCYC, Ms Webb’s office said.She was the main draw for clients of the dealership and others, where she was photographed standing in front of a Maserati which carry price tags of over $400,000.She confirmed that her husband Marc Webb worked for the dealership, but declined to say if he was one of the principals.Mr Webb is not listed on company documents, possibly for security reasons, but he has long been one of the country’s leading luxury car dealers, winning awards with Rolls Royce and Aston Martin and lending McLarens to the police.A police spokesman said that Ms Webb had disclosed all interests as required, including her husband’s business interests. The registry of business interests is confidential for privacy reasons.“ The Commissioner received at least a dozen other invitations for International Women’s Day events, which she was unable to attend,” the spokesman said.It is not known whether these invitations were in Sydney, where the Commissioner is based. She has been attending flood regions this week.While the Premier did not comment on Thursday, his Health Minister Brad Hazzard defended the Commissioner in budget estimate hearing in NSW Parliament.He called criticism of Ms Webb “wholly unfair and unreasonable”.“She works herself, like every other police commissioner, completely into the ground and has been doing that both in her former position and in her current position and I was appalled to see that article in The Tele,” he said.“She has been working on the floods as well.”Questions for commissionerFormer Police Minister David Elliott, who now runs the transport portfolio, also went in to bat for Ms Webb, declaring she had “nothing to apologise for”.Speaking to 2GB’s Ben Fordham, Ms Webb said she had been busy fielding calls about the flood emergency “the whole time” she was at the high-end event.“International Women’s Day happens once a year, I think it’s important as Commissioner of Police that I show some leadership in terms of the messaging to young women,” Ms Webb said.“I was on point for police the whole time.”Daily Telegraph – News Feed latest episodeMs Webb said she could “imagine” flood-stricken residents’ reaction to her attending the function, but it was a “coincidence” the horror weather had happened the same day as the fundraiser.She claimed she would have been condemned whether she attended or not.“It’s one small thing I’ve done in a big week of visiting flooded areas ... I can’t account for the weather on that particular day, it had been organised in advance,” Ms Webb said.“It would’ve been a poor showing and I would have been criticised if I didn’t turn up.”She added: “You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”