Police Commissioner Karen Webb visits luxury car dealership during flooding
Chester T. Dean
3 min read
Newly appointed police commissioner Karen Webb has defended her visit to a luxury car dealership as NSW battles horrific flooding.
Police Commissioner Karen Webb has defended her visit to a luxury car dealership, saying she had “no regrets” as her officers risked their lives pulling bodies from the raging floodwaters.
Ms Webb attended an International Women’s Day event at Sydney’s Maserati dealership in Alexandria on Tuesday, organized to raise funds for Police Legacy and the PCYC.
She was the featured speaker at the exclusive high-end event, her invitation believed to have come from her husband.
During the event, Ms Webb, who is the state’s first female police commissioner and was sworn in on February 1, was pictured smiling as she stood in front of a $400,000 blue car alongside of TV presenter and model Kate Peck.
As Ms Webb attended several events across the city, officers carried out rescues and removed bodies from the raging floodwaters that swept through the city.
Thousands of people have been evacuated from Sydney’s northern beaches as the deluge led to the death of three people.
Meanwhile, people in the upstate are struggling to rebuild their lives after devastating floods ravaged areas such as Lismore and Ballina last week.
Ms Webb quickly came under fire for her choice to pose for photos while large parts of the state were under duress.
But she defended her decision to go to the events, telling 2GB’s Ben Fordham it was like a ‘slap in the face’.
“It’s a small thing I did during a big week of visiting floodplains,” Ms Webb said on Thursday.
“I would have been criticized if I didn’t show up…you’re damned if you do, you’re damned if you don’t.”
Ms Webb said she visited the NSW north coast last week before heading to the Nepean/Hawkesbury area on Saturday.
She then traveled to Ballina and Woodburn on Wednesday, where police were among the residents who lost their homes.
“Then we went to Lismore and I can tell you, on the ground up there, it’s like Armageddon,” she said.
The commissioner said she does not regret her decision to attend the International Women’s Day events.
Ms Webb said her husband had worked at the Maserati dealership and had been supporting the police “for years”.
“I can imagine people wondering what’s going on, but it was a two-hour event that I was in and out of, and I was on the phone over lunch organizing flood resources,” he said. she declared.
“It was to celebrate International Women’s Day and I can’t explain the weather that day but it had been pre-arranged and would have been a poor performance and I would have been criticized if I didn’t did not present.
“You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
Earlier in the day, Ms Webb visited Burwood MLC’s private girls’ school, where tuition costs up to $47,525 a year.
