‘Shocked but not surprised’: Top bureaucrat accuses minister of lying under oath

The release of secret parliamentary evidence has revealed that Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig has been accused of lying under oath by one of his own top public servants.

The allegation was contained in the transcript of a closed-door parliamentary inquiry published after Brett Whitworth – the deputy secretary of the Office of Local Government (OLG) – requested his evidence be released.

Whitworth said he was “shocked but not surprised” to hear Hoenig explicitly deny discussing the Bayside preselection with him during budget estimates in September. Whitworth says they discussed the matter several times.

The inquiry was examining the end of Bill Saravinovski’s 40-year career as Bayside mayor, councillor and Labor powerbroker after he was referred to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT). The release of Whitworth’s evidence once again places Hoenig’s involvement in the Saravinovski matter under the spotlight.

Saravinovski, who spent 40 years on Rockdale and Bayside councils, was dumped from Labor’s ticket just weeks before the local government elections in September 2024. NCAT later found Saravinovski guilty of misconduct on three grounds and issued a reprimand.

According to a transcript of the evidence, Whitworth claimed Hoenig approached him on four or five occasions for post-meeting “corridor conversations”. Whitworth said Hoenig’s repeated questioning of him across late 2023 and early 2024 made him “totally uncomfortable” given the matter related to a Labor Party preselection.

“I have been a public servant for 30 years. I have been dealing with ministers face-to-face for at least 15 or more. I know that there is a point where ministers are public servants and there is a point where ministers are political entities,” he responded.

Once Hoenig crossed that line, Whitworth said he “switched off”.

Hoenig, a former barrister, has served as a significant political figure in the Bayside area for decades, serving as mayor of the former Botany Council for 30 years until he was elected as the member for Heffron in 2012.

According to a transcript of his evidence, Whitworth told the inquiry: “I’m sure that I’d said on at least one occasion, ‘The issue of [Labor] preselection is not a matter for me, and it’s not a matter for you.’ He would say, ‘Yes, I know, but it’s a time issue. We’ve had this for far too long’.”

After Whitworth made the allegation in a citizen’s right of reply tabled with parliament in late June 2025, Hoenig explicitly denied discussing the Bayside preselection with his deputy secretary after the matter was raised during