The NSW police minister has been accused of pressuring the head of the state's police integrity watchdog to not hire certain staff because the powerful police union didn't like them.
A budget estimates hearing attended by the state's most senior law enforcement members on Thursday descended into a slanging match between Troy Grant and the head of the state's law enforcement watchdog former Supreme Court judge Michael Adams.
Mr Adams said Mr Grant told him not to employ members of the old Police Integrity Commission in senior positions at the newly created Law Enforcement Conduct Committee because the police union didn't like them.
"The minister said to me that I should not employ in any senior executive position any person from PIC because the union, the association, had taken exception to PIC officers," the LECC chief commissioner told the hearing.
Mr Grant immediately denied the allegation which he described as "vexatious".
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He then accused Mr Adams of making up the allegation because he had denied a senior member of his staff an overseas trip to Washington.
"The reason I believe he's making these vexatious allegations is that I refused a request by Justice Adams to send one of his staff on an overseas trip, to which he took great umbrage," the police minister said.
The Nationals MP later clarified his comments in a statement.
"At no time did I ever instruct, or request, Mr Adams or anyone else to refrain from, or avoid, the hiring of people who were previously employed by the Police Integrity Commission or ombudsman," Mr Grant said.
"I merely informed Mr Adams of the position taken by the Police Association. At no time did I ever endorse it."
