A JUNIOR bureaucrat was suspended after hanging up on the son of disgraced Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid during a heated argument about valuable water licences at the family property. Sue Heaney, a Department of Water and Energy licensing officer, became "upset" when told a senior officer in her department had given the Cherrydale Park property a very generous allocation of about 860 megalitres a year - the largest in NSW's Bylong Valley. The Independent Commission against Corruption was told it was Ms Heaney's responsibility to assign volume limits on water licences in the Hunter region and she "knew nothing" of the new limits imposed by senior resource officer Brian McDougall. During evidence yesterday, Damian Obeid said he did not complain to anyone in the department about the November 18, 2008, conversation with Ms Heaney, although he "perhaps" told "one or two" of his brothers and "possibly" his father. Phone records show Mr Obeid Sr called Mark Duffy, the department's director-general, on the same day that Damian Obeid and Ms Heaney argued on the phone. Mr Obeid Sr called Mr Duffy again three days later. On November 26, Ms Heaney was suspended from duty and was later found to have had "acted unprofessionally."