Mr Sartor was being questioned during an inquiry into land dealings at Badgerys Creek that was initiated following the killing of Sydney businessman Michael McGurk.

He confirmed the lobbying after protesting that questions on the matter lay outside the committee's terms of reference.

Asked about lobbying by Fairfield MP Mr Tripodi and Mr Obeid, Mr Sartor paused for several seconds before admitting that he had not prepared for questions on this topic, going on to argue that this line of questioning was outside the committee's terms of reference.

But Mr Sartor did confirm he had had a series of discussions with Mr Tripodi when Mr Tripodi was the minister for infrastructure, saying they were mostly of a "policy nature".

"I don't think this is in the terms of reference. I didn't prepare for this," Mr Sartor initially answered when asked about pressure from Mr Tripodi.

"Tripodi and I, he was minister for infrastructure, had a number of discussions about things ... I really don't remember. We had arguments and differences but they were more of a policy nature. He was not of my view with planning, he was of a different view.

"I think that's outside your terms of reference."

After further pressure to answer the question, Mr Sartor finally gathered his thoughts, arguing that any pressure from Mr Tripodi and Mr Obeid was only minor.

"If any of them raised issues, they were very rare and in relation to specific developments, and very inconsequential and very minor," he said.

"There was no pressure brought to bear from either of those gentleman."