A meeting between NSW Premier Chris Minns and a longstanding friend representing the owner of the Rosehill Racecourse was disclosed inaccurately and misleadingly, a parliamentary inquiry has concluded. 

The premier and the government were found to have breached official guidelines by failing to remain impartial when they championed a controversial proposal to develop the site into a new suburb of 25,000 homes.

An upper house committee voted to refer its report, tabled on Friday, to the corruption watchdog because of "significant conflicting evidence" and "unanswered questions" about the premier's involvement in the proposal.

The premier denies any wrongdoing and has accused the committee of politicising the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) with "unsubstantiated rumours".

Meeting 'did not pass pub test'

The opposition and crossbench-controlled committee was chaired by Liberal MP Scott Farlow, who said the government "threw caution to the wind" in its rush to make a big announcement.

"[It] threw out many of the proper probity processes that we would expect from what would be one of the largest real estate deals in New South Wales's history," Mr Farlow said.

The idea to sell the racecourse was pitched by Australian Turf Club (ATC) corporate affairs head Steve McMahon in a meeting with Mr Minns and his Chief of Staff James Cullen on October 30, 2023.

Mr McMahon told the inquiry he had been friends with Mr Minns for about 25 years and was also a member of the Labor Party.

The 15-minute meeting was logged in the premier's public diary disclosure as a 'meet and greet', a description the committee found inadequately described the purpose of the catch-up.

"It is inappropriate given the long-standing friendship of Mr McMahon and the premier and the nature of the matter discussed at the meeting," the report states.

"[T]he premier should have declared a conflict of interest, especially in light of the Independent Commission Against Corruption ruling on Operation Keppel, due to his close personal relationship with Mr McMahon."

Operation Keppel was the ICAC investigation into former premier Gladys Berejiklian, who was found to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct.

The committee has recommended updating the diary disclosure rules so the "accurate description of attendees, purpose and any conflicts of interest" is mandatory.

Nationals MP Wes Fang, who sat on the committee, said the description of the meeting and the premier's failure to declare a conflict of interest should concern everyone in NSW.

Meeting was 'normal' and 'standard'

Labor committee member Peter Primrose said it was "standard practice" for such a meeting to be characterised as a 'meet and greet'.

"That's the normal way in which those sorts of meetings are bureaucratically noted," Mr Primrose said.

At a press conference in December 2023, Mr Minns called the proposal a "once-in-a-generation opportunity", despite government's guidelines for unsolicited proposals requiring "fair and impartial treatment" at every stage of the assessment process.

"It is the committee's view that the comments of the Government in its press release and particularly those of the Premier at the announcement breached these requirements," the report states.

Greens committee member Cate Faehrmann said the rules were designed to ensure "no favours are done for mates".

Mr Primrose disputed that the premier failed to act impartially.

"If you've got a proposal in the middle of a housing crisis to build such a substantial number of homes, then obviously any premier, regardless of their political bent, would want that to be properly evaluated," he said.

The inquiry also found the financial viability of developing Rosehill Racecourse was uncertain and that it was "highly unlikely" a replacement track could be built on the Brick Pit site at Sydney Olympic Park because of environmental factors.

The decision now rests with the ATC's more than 12,000 members who will vote on whether to proceed with the deal.