The Coalition has accused shadow regional transport minister Jenny Aitchison of a conflict of interest for taking tens of thousands of dollars in donations from the private bus industry.
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The Maitland MP's annual financial disclosures to the NSW Electoral Commission show she received $36,310 from a fundraising dinner with industry group BusNSW in May last year.
Labor leader Chris Minns was also at the dinner.
Ms Aitchison, who was chief executive and managing director of a coach charter business before entering Parliament in 2015, also received thousands of dollars in donations from a lunch with bus company executives before the 2019 state election.
The Coalition said in a statement to the Newcastle Herald that Labor was guilty of "utter hypocrisy" for taking donations from bus companies while publicly opposing the privatisation of bus services.
The Liberal parliamentary secretary for the Hunter, Taylor Martin, questioned whether Ms Aitchison should participate in Labor's proposed bus industry taskforce.
Labor promised last year to establish a taskforce to "deal with the consequences of the NSW Liberal government's failed bus privatisation agenda and make bus services better for communities that have been let down by privatisation".
The move followed an upper house transport committee report concluded that the privatisation of transport operations in Newcastle and Sydney had led to inferior services.
Ms Aitchison said Labor would "look at" her participation in the taskforce if it formed government after the March 25 election.
She defended her integrity and said the financial support she had received from the bus industry predated her appointment to the shadow regional transport portfolio.
"Obviously, that's something we would look at in government ... it depends on the terms of reference of the taskforce and those sorts of things," she said.
"The areas that have been privatised most recently have been in the metro areas, Newcastle buses and Sydney buses. They're not areas where the regional transport minister's generally engaged.
"I think it's a conversation for after the election for the simple fact that I had a business before I entered Parliament.
"I got rid of my shares in that business. I then went so far when I was appointed to shadow cabinet to get my husband to even sell out of the business and we sold it to another operator."
Ms Aitchison said she had "not ever taken a backward step when it comes to holding transport companies to account" and had raised problems with bus services in her electorate with the relevant minister.
"The important thing to note is that I came from the bus industry. I was very active in BusNSW over a period of about 20 years," she said.
"I understand the industry, and when I first put my hand up to run in 2015 they said, 'We like you. We think you're a good operator.'
"They backed me and said they'd do a fundraiser, and every election they've done a fundraiser for me.
"This one was no different to the others and was obviously before the inquiry went through Parliament House."
She said she had met with bus companies, unions, farmers, road freight operators and councils across the state in her role as shadow regional transport minister.
"Wherever there looks like there could be a conflict, of course, I move myself out of that conversation," she said.
"In government, if you are in a situation where you're in executive, decision-making roles, then of course I act as I have always acted with integrity to do what I can to ensure there is not a conflict of interest.
"I've seen too many members of the Nationals and Liberals in our area go to ICAC, and there is no way I would put myself in a position where there was an issue with integrity."
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Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
