Minister hints at return of transport boss after $800,000 payout

He was sacked under section 41 of the Government Sector Employment Act, which allows for executives to be terminated “at any time, for any or no stated reason and without notice”.

The Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday revealed correspondence showing Mr Staples’ termination payment would be $837,584, which includes 38 weeks’ pay and his outstanding leave entitlements. His annual salary is $599,000.

In the first question time of the year Mr Constance described Mr Staples as “one of the greatest” public sector project managers the state had seen. Mr Constance said he had already indicated his wish for Mr Staples to play a role in the Metro network after leaving the role of secretary this month.

“I issued a statement in November … [that] Rodd has a unique place in Sydney’s history, thanks to his strong leadership of Sydney Metro,” Mr Constance said. “I hope he’ll be able to play a role, as we expand our Metro network – and guess what, I think that’s going to happen. So … stay tuned.”

NSW Labor finance spokesman Daniel Mookhey on Tuesday said Mr Staples should never have been sacked if Mr Constance intended on rehiring him as a consultant on Sydney Metro.

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“Minister Constance was cavalier about sacking Rodd Staples for no reason, and now might have to pay through the teeth to rehire him,” he said. “This whole mess could have been avoided if the Transport Minister was up to his job and knew what he was doing.”

Documents recently released under parliamentary order show correspondence between Mr Staples and the Department of Premier and Cabinet, in which Mr Staples said there had been no issues with his performance.

“I accept this termination in the context that my documented performance, including my recent performance review with the Premier, has been satisfactory with no performance issues raised,” Mr Staples wrote in a letter dated November 17.

Mr Staples did not respond to a request for comment.

The long-time public servant announced his departure to staff last year after the Herald revealed that the NSW government paid three times as much as the Valuer-General’s estimate for highly contaminated land in Camellia, earning Sydney property developer Billbergia a $15 million windfall.

The Herald is not suggesting there was any connection between Mr Staples’ departure and the Camellia land sale.