Graham told the inquiry that she formed a view in February or March 2023 that Helmy was favouring Protection Barriers and JC Safety, and was pushing for them to be included on the safety barriers panel.
During online meetings between the pair in 2023, Graham said Helmy “pressured me” and spruiked Protection Barriers as a significant and “good contractor” that should be included on the panel.
“At one stage I said to him, ‘get back – you’re too close’,” she told the inquiry.
“That’s not a common thing I would say to anyone, but he was trying to exert influence over what I was doing.”
Graham said Helmy told her that the two companies were not related because it was an “ex-husband and wife arrangement” whereby they had gone their different ways and started two separate companies. The couple were called before the inquiry last month and remain married.
Months later in 2023, she said she raised concerns with a manager that the companies’ documents were “so poor” that they should not be included on the panel, telling him that she believed Helmy was allowing them to have undue favouritism.
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Graham, who was a safety quality and environment officer, was part of a separate unit from Transport for NSW’s procurement division which Helmy worked for. Her role was to ensure contractors met their statutory obligations and were capable of carrying out work for the agency.
When she started in 2022, she said she entered an environment where there was a “tick and flick” culture within her part of the transport agency, which was evident in the fact she could not find records for companies which were on panels from which they could tender for road work.
“When I started to review documents, it was clear that these companies had never been reviewed previously,” she said.
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