PREMIER Barry O'Farrell is under pressure to act following a damning report into the decision to close the Cronulla Fisheries Research Centre.
A parliamentary inquiry recommended this week the decision be reversed, with committee head, the Reverend Fred Nile, saying it "broke almost every rule in the book".
Despite the government initially rejecting the recommendation, opponents of the closure remained hopeful the Premier would intervene.
The report left scope for a compromise through a secondary recommendation the closure be "put on hold" to allow further analysis.
Mr Nile said "all but one or two" of the staff who had left would happily return.
A short time before the report was tabled, Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson collapsed and was taken to hospital.
A spokeswoman said her illness followed a car accident the previous week and she had been advised to rest for another two weeks.
A spokesman for Mr O’Farrell declined to comment on the report and said Ms Hodgkinson had responded.
Mr Nile said the matter was so important that Mr O’Farrell ‘‘should involve himself’’. Staff at the centre agreed.
‘‘It’s up to the Premier — it’s his call,’’ said Kevin Rowlings, principal scientist in commercial fisheries research.
‘‘A lot of people have not lost hope that common sense will prevail and the findings justify that hope,’’ Dr Rowlings said.
Cronulla MP Mark Speakman said he had requested a meeting with Mr O’Farrell and Ms Hodgkinson ‘‘to continue to argue the case’’ that the decision be reversed.
Mr Nile, the longest serving member of the NSW Parliament, said it was the worst decision-making he had seen during his many years on similar inquiries.
He said trying to find out who made the decision was ‘‘like dealing with the secret service’’.
‘‘Someone in the shadows made this decision and it was a very bad decision,’’ he said.
Mr Nile said he was deeply concerned about the long-term future of the site, which was ideal for a resort, hotel or apartments.
Staff were in tears when recounting the way they were treated, which was ‘‘like an axe falling’’.
Mr Nile said the state’s leading marine scientist Steve Kennelly had been treated ‘‘shamefully’’.
National Party MP Niall Blair was the only member of the bipartisan committee of seven, which included two Liberals, to issue a dissenting statement to the report.
TOO LATE TO REVERSE
A spokeswoman for Ms Hodgkinson said the government had repeatedly stated it would not reverse the decision.
‘‘A Decade of Decentralisation, the NSW Government’s plan to deliver greater regional opportunity, was always going to involve tough decisions but the government has never wavered or created any public doubt about the decision ...’’ she said.
‘‘Forty-one public servants have already accepted a transfer to other locations and more are still expected to follow.
‘‘NSW Fisheries believes 50 percent of the scientist positions currently located at Cronulla will remain with the organisation.’’
Should Premier O'Farrell get involved?
See more on the inquiry: http://tinyurl.com/9kh8k74
