Before she started work at the City of Parramatta, Roxanne Thornton called its then-mayor “a fat cow” and her colleagues at another council “a bunch of f— wits” in text message exchanges with the council’s newly appointed chief executive, Gail Connolly.
The messages, revealed at the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s public inquiry into the council, also show Connolly appeared to have forged Thornton’s signature on an employment contract.
On day 10 of the public inquiry, Thornton’s second day as a witness, the ICAC was shown a group chat between Connolly, Thornton and Angela Jones-Blayney – who called themselves Pink Ladies – discussing in detail the trio’s plans for the council despite Connolly being the only member of staff at the council.
Under Operation Navarra, the ICAC is investigating the pair, along with colleague Angela Jones-Blayney, over a series of allegations, including that they intentionally subverted recruitment and promotion processes within the council in order to benefit friends and associates.
In January 2023, before either had started working at the council, Connolly sent a message to Thornton to see if she had noticed Parramatta’s then-lord mayor Donna Davis in a video she had sent. Thornton replied, according to the texts shown: “Sure did, fat cow.”
Counsel Assisting Joanna Davidson, SC, asked Thornton: “Do you recall why you had any reason to regard the Parramatta lord mayor as a fat cow?”
“No.”
The next month, Thornton, then working at Canterbury-Bankstown Council, texted Connolly saying she was considering applying for a position at the City of Sydney. “I am not sure if I can stretch out my time at Canterbury Bankstown … for much longer. Seriously. I am surrounded by a bunch of f— wits.” She asked if Connolly would speak to the City of Sydney’s chief executive.
“I can speak to her but hang in there,” Connolly replied, adding that she had a second-round interview for the position of chief executive at the City of Parramatta. “Hopefully I will be successful and can rescue you soon.”
In March, Connolly texted Thornton that she had been appointed chief executive. “Will finish the negotiations with Donna [Davis, then-lord mayor] tomorrow – she has my draft Schedule C already. Winner winner chicken dinner!” She added: “And Donna doesn’t care if I get rid of the current chief of staff – she hates him.”
Later that month, Connolly requested Thornton provide a copy of Thornton’s e-signature to use as a witness on her employment contract. Later, Connolly sent a photo of a handwritten signature on her contract with the words “just wrote your signature”.
“F—, that’s pretty good,” Thornton responded.
Thornton told the inquiry she consented to the use of her e-signature as a witness for the contract, but agreed it was not a wet signature that the contract required.
In later text messages after Connolly began as the council boss, she texted Thornton and Jones-Blayney about her plans to make Bernadette Cavanagh, then the HR boss at the council, redundant.
“Woo Hoo!” responded Angela Jones-Blayney, who later joined the council as an executive director. “They have no idea who they are dealing with! Let the games begin!”
“Bahahahaha!” Thornton responded.
Connolly later sent a text to the group: “3 weeks and 3 ‘resignations’ – all of which were not directly initiated by me.”
“Coriander,” Thornton replied 30 seconds later. “That’s you!!”
When asked about what “coriander” meant, Thornton told the inquiry: “[Connolly is] like coriander. You either like coriander or you hate coriander. And Gail has a similar polarising personality. You either like her or you don’t. There’s no middle ground.”
More to come.
Anthony Segaert is the Parramatta bureau chief at The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously an urban affairs reporter.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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