The NSW premier says he did not need to be told of political donations the state's new transport secretary made to the campaign of the minister who handed him the high-paying role.
Transport department boss Josh Murray contributed $500 to Transport Minister Jo Haylen's re-election campaign by buying tickets for a Labor fundraising event before the party took power at the March poll.
Premier Chris Minns said he did not believe Ms Haylen's failure to declare the donations before she appointed Mr Murray, a former Labor staffer, to the role was a breach of the ministerial code of conduct.
"In relation to the donations, everything was followed under the strict reporting guidelines of the electoral commission in NSW," he said.
"There's no suggestion that it hasn't been."
Mr Murray bought tickets to a fundraiser attended by several hundred people that featured a keynote speech by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese six months before the election.
Mr Minns said the donations were disclosed to him in briefings several days after Mr Murray was appointed as transport secretary.
"I don't believe that purchasing a ticket to a fundraising dinner constitutes the minister being influenced in terms of her public duty," he said.
Ms Haylen earlier said she was not required to declare the donation to the premier or anyone else as it fell below a $1000 threshold.
"I've declared everything I'm required to declare," she told Sydney radio 2GB.
"I know Josh Murray professionally, as do many other people in political circles and across the transport and infrastructure sector."
The donation, uncovered in internal documents discussing press conference strategies, is the latest revelation to spark questions about the appointment of the transport tsar.
He was initially left off a shortlist for the role until Ms Haylen's office requested he be interviewed.
A later panel whittled the list down to Mr Murray and a senior public servant before sending the options to the transport minister.
Ms Haylen reiterated she had hired the best person in the job to oversee the nation's largest transport network, including the busiest rail system and denied she had anything to hide.
Opposition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward said it appeared Ms Haylen should have disclosed her relationship with Mr Murray as being more than that of an acquaintance.
"The focus of this matter is not on whether Ms Haylen appointed Mr Murray because of a $500 donation," she said.
"It is that Ms Haylen has admitted she appointed Mr Murray and knowingly did not fully disclose her relationship, including the donation during a recruitment process led by the premier’s department.
"This behaviour is significantly at odds with the ministerial code of conduct and accepted ethical behaviour of ministers."
Hearings for a snap parliamentary inquiry into the appointment will begin on Thursday.
It will examine Mr Murray's recruitment as well as the pandemic-era appointment of Nationals federal secretary Emma Watts as NSW Cross-Border Assistant Commissioner.
