Who is Steve McMahon, the racing official at the centre of the Chris Minns ICAC scandal?
A horse racing official at the center of a political scandal is a former mayor who once ran for federal Labor elections.
NSW Premier Chris Minns will be referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption over allegations he failed to develop a long-term friendship with Australian Turf Club (ATC) head of corporate affairs and government relations Steve McMahon.
The allegations center around an informal meeting between the pair earlier this year before the state government fast-tracked a deal to transform Sydney’s Rosehill Gardens Racecourse into a new 25,000-home suburb.
It is understood Prime Minister Minns and Mr McMahon have known each other for more than 20 years through their Labor connections in Sydney’s south.
Before joining the ATC, Mr McMahon was mayor of Hurstville Council in Sydney’s south from 2011 to 2013, when he was pre-selected as the Labor candidate in the federal seat of Barton after former Attorney General Robert McClelland decided to not to stand for election again.
McMahon left politics after Liberal candidate Nickolas Varvaris won the federal seat, despite Labor previously holding it by an 8.9 percent margin.
But Mr McMahon’s support for the Labor Party and Mr Minns did not wane and not long after his loss he posted pictures of the couple at political events on several occasions.
In a January 2015 post, he knocked doors for his partner for the upcoming state election in the seat of Kogarah, which Mr Minns later won.
NSW Premier Chris Minns (right) will be referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption over allegations he failed to disclose a friendship with Australian Turf Club official Steve McMahon (left)
Mr McMahon is the current Head of Corporate Affairs and Government Relations for the ATC, having previously been the Labor candidate in the 2013 Federal Election
“Chris Minns is welcome anywhere in Kogarah today,” he captioned the post to X, with an image of a flyer in support of Mr Minns on a doormat.
In another post on Mr McMahon’s
“Fighting to preserve renewable energy targets… Libs no show,” he captioned the image.
The posts came while Mr McMahon held positions as CEO of the NSW Trainers Association, vice-chairman of the NSW Racing Industry Consultative Group and director of Mortdale RSL.
He left the NSW Trainers Association at the end of 2015 but continued the other jobs, while also taking on roles as ATC’s Public Officer and then corporate affairs and government relations.
Mr McMahon describes his current job on LinkedIn as improving the ‘development of the ATC Strategic Plan, including racing, infrastructure, real estate (and) commercial future plans’.
Mr Minns is accused of accelerating a deal to turn Sydney’s Rosehill Gardens Racecourse (pictured, Mr Minns and ATC chairman Peter McGauren on the track) into a new suburb after an informal meeting with Mr McMahon
Mr McMahon has on several occasions posted photographs of himself and Mr Minns at political events in the decade since his departure from politics (pictured centre, former federal minister Bill Shorten)
Most recently, Mr McMahon posted a photo of him with Mr Minns and Federal Climate Change Chris Bowen at a charity event at Randwick Racecourse in August 2023.
The revelations come as a parliamentary committee led by opposition Liberal Party members voted to refer the project and its relationship to Mr McMahon and Mr Minns’ meeting to the anti-corruption watchdog. Seven news reported.
“The committee is of the view that the Prime Minister should have declared a conflict of interest, particularly in light of the ICAC ruling on Operation Keppel,” the committee report said.
Operation Keppel refers to the ICAC’s finding that former Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian engaged in seriously corrupt behavior with her then lover, former Liberal MP Darryl McGuire.
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting any wrongdoing on behalf of Prime Minister Minns or Mr McMahon.
The committee investigating the deal asked Mr Minns, who came to him with a proposal to redevelop the racecourse.
The scandal forced Ms Berejiklian to resign as Premier of NSW in September 2021 and eventually leave politics altogether.
“That would have been it – I can’t remember his position – if Steve McMahon had not been there at the ATC,” Mr Minns said.
“I’ve known him for a long time.”
Mr Minns said this was not unusual.
“Obviously, when you’re in government, people come to you and say, ‘Look, we’ve got an idea. We think this would be good for our organization,” he said.
“They could say it would be good for the state too.”
Despite Steve McMahon leaving politics after losing the seat, he continued to support the Labor Party and Mr Minns, knocking on doors for his 2015 state election campaign (pictured)
While working at a NSW horse racing non-profit, Mr McMahon (left) also accompanied Mr Minns (centre) at other events, including a Ramadan fast in 2014
Mr Minns said he made the announcement about the redevelopment “not long” after Mr McMahon approached him.
When it was announced, a spokesman for Mr Minns said it was the “biggest thing we will ever do as a government.” If this happens to you, say it this way.”
High-profile racehorse trainer Gai Waterhouse has previously testified that the racing industry is “outraged” by the plan.
In July, she told the parliamentary inquiry into the racing industry that the ATC had no right to agree to the sale without a vote of its members.
Waterhouse said members would never agree to the sale of the historic race track.
“We wouldn’t be here today to discuss the sale of the SCG or Bondi Beach cricket ground, yet we are here to discuss the sale to Rosehill,” Ms Waterhouse told the inquiry.
Mr Minns (pictured with his wife Anna) told a parliamentary committee there was nothing special about the proposed deal being pitched
“It’s the members who own Rosehill. If they were to put it to the membership for a vote now, the vote would be overwhelmingly against the sale.”
The ATC has maintained that the deal falls within its executive authority.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Prime Minister Minns’ office for comment.
Mr Minns became local MP for Kogarah in 2015 and served as NSW Opposition Leader for almost two years before being elected Prime Minister at the 2023 election.