obviously not the only factor, and, relevantly to this ground, doing so did not involve the Commission impermissibly attempting to form its own view as to the merits of the proposals.
194 At [11.583] and [11.584], the Commission noted, principally by reference to a memorandum of Mr Blunden, the director of strategy of then Premier Baird, dated 12 December 2016, that the ACTA proposal "was to allocate funds based on scant and inadequate information which did not meet the NSW Government's standards and was not a matter of government policy". That somewhat colourful memorandum is dealt with more fully by the Commission at [11.153] to [11.169]. Mr Blunden recommended that the proposal be opposed. His view was that the ACTA proposal went "against all of the principles of sound economic management", of "ensuring that before public money is spent, there's a sufficient analysis to indicate the level of the benefit to the state by the state spending money", and of doing so wisely ([11.155]).
195 As to the perceived merits of the ACTA proposal, the Commission found that from the outset Mr Blunden suggested the proposal be removed from the ERC agenda. It was removed, but later restored. There was a question as to whether the applicant was involved in its being restored. None of this involved the Commission making findings as to the merits of the decisions concerning the ACTA proposal. The fact that the memorandum was prepared and circulated was a circumstance that could be taken into account when considering the question of partiality.
196 Finally in relation to the ACTA proposal, the Report at [11.609] contained general observations by the Commission as to its authority to investigate matters arising under the Code, including those identified in cl 6 of the Schedule to the Code. It contains no finding as to the merits of either of the funding proposals or as to whether it was in the public interest for them to proceed.
197 With respect to the RCM proposal, at [12.205] the Commission noted the advice of Mr Bolton (director, Riverina Murray, Department of Premier and Cabinet Regional) that this proposal was "by no means a top order priority for the community and could [be] seen as quite a 'political' announcement".
198 At [12.213] and [12.214], the Commission notes that the applicant "pressed ahead" with her support of the RCM Stage 2 proposal, understanding that the announcement of that funding on 24 August 2024, during the by-election for Mr Maguire's seat, was not supported by any of her political staffers.
199 None of these findings and observations involves the Commission deciding for itself the merits of either proposal, and doing so for the purpose of assessing whether the exercises of power were in fact in the public interest. Rather, it has had regard to evidence as to the perceived merits or otherwise of the proposals at the time as a circumstance relevant to whether the applicant acted with partiality and was influenced in doing so by her relationship with Mr Maguire.
200 It follows that this ground of review is not made out.
