NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb has spoken with 2GB’s Ray Hadley after she was blasted on air earlier today for cancelling an interview with the same radio station.
She revealed security checks over her new media spin doctor are “ongoing” leaving the door open to reversing the appointment.
In an extraordinary interview on 2GB radio, Commissioner Webb told Hadley on Monday that the “interim” appointment to the $400,000 a year role could be reversed pending those security checks.
TV producer Steve Jackson was appointed to the role Executive Director, Public Affairs for the NSW Police Force, advising Ms Webb, on a temporary basis for six months. Jackson, who quit his job at the Seven Network in anticipation of taking on the role, was the senior producer on the Spotlight program that paid Mr Lehrmann’s rent for a year in exchange for an interview in which he denied raping Brittany Higgins.
The controversial appointment has prompted backlash and the former journalist has told friends he has become the target of a vicious whispering campaign about his “colourful past”.
Asked if revelations over the last week could see her revisit her decision to give him the job Commissioner Webb said: “I won’t pre-empt that, but that could happen.”
“Information has been provided to us and it is being viewed as part of that employment process.”
She also confirmed that in the wake of a bizarre scandal involving a photograph of Mr Jackson sitting on a couch with a nude model, that certain information had been passed on the authorities and was being reviewed.
There is no suggestion of any sexual activity or criminal wrongdoing involving Jackson and the former model, who told The Saturday Telegraph that she took her top off in front of the journalist because it was a hot night and that she was at her “lowest ebb” and suffering mental health issues at the time she was interviewed.
Mr Jackson’s appointment has dominated the headlines after it emerged a week ago following the sacking of the incumbent Liz Deegan.
News.com.au does not suggest that Mr Jackson, who has held senior roles on 60 Minutes, Spotlight and The Australian newspaper is not suitable for the role.
But Commissioner Webb volunteered on Monday that the appointment may not be extended after that six month period expires.
“So when someone is first appointed it’s a baseline check,” Ms Webb said to 2GB’s Ray Hadley.
“What happens after that, the person ticks a box to say that they are happy to have security vetting which is more thorough.
“So we’re in that process now.”
Former model Tziporah Malkah told the Saturday Telegraph over the weekend that she was frustrated she has been drawn back into a drama, after claiming another man (not Jackson) had shared the photograph of her.
Malkah, is the former fashion model, actor and television personality who was previously known as Kate Fisher and engaged to James Packer.
“With total disregard to my privacy, consent or feeling, further emphasises the point that I’ve previously made of how men in all spheres of life … appear to treat women as disposable objects,” Malkah said.
“How is it that this is still happening?
“That I am being dragged into some war that currently has no bearing on my life, because when men go to war they don’t care about what is used as ammunition?
“If it happens to be a woman, who was down on her luck at the time and can be used to throw a bit of tarnish on a man’s reputation, so be it.
“The core issue here is consent and the sexual objectification of women and the removal of our voice and our rights.”
Commissioner sought advice over vacant job
Ms Webb also confirmed that she spoke to Yasmin Catley’s chief of staff, Ross Neilson, for advice on who should take the vacant job.
“I asked the minister’s chief of staff, who’s been around in this game for a long time,” she explained.
“Ross used to run the police media unit many years ago, so he was an ideal person to ask. He gave me a couple of suggestions and I followed up with Steve (and) interviewed Steve.
“And then we went through a process where we compared his skills against what we were looking for, and so that’s where we’ve landed and how we’ve landed there.”
Her comments come amid calls from Liberal MPs for Police Minister Yasmin Catley to be investigated by the corruption watchdog over the appointment.
The Daily Telegraph reports today that two of the most senior staff in Ms Catley’s office both have personal relationships with Mr Jackson.
Ms Catley’s chief of staff Ross Neilson is a close friend of Mr Jackson, while another member of her team is engaged to a Spotlight producer who was hired by Mr Jackson last year.
2GB host puts commissioner on blast
Breakfast radio host Ben Fordham has put NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb on blast on Monday after she cancelled a scheduled interview on his show to go on Hadley instead.
“Morale in the police force is tanking, and the commissioner has gone into hiding,” Fordham said on his Monday morning show.
Fordham claimed that Ms Webb had approached media executives asking for “favourable coverage”.
Following the Tasering incident in June last year, he said Commissioner Webb approached Nine Radio’s managing director, Tom Malone, asking him to “ease up a bit”, Fordham said.
“I was asking questions about the lack of transparency over the Taser incident; the commissioner complained to my boss,” Fordham said.
“Tom Malone was asked to attend a meeting in the commissioner’s office, and it was clear to me what was going on: Karen Webb wanted me to ease up a bit.
“Karen Webb thought I should be listening to her spin instead of fighting on behalf of a great-grandmother Tasered in an aged-care facility.”