Mayor's 'conflict': council to ask for independent legal opinion

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By KIERAN FINNANE

 

The Town Council will seek an independent legal opinion on how to manage the potential conflict of interest in Mayor Damien Ryan also being an endorsed CLP candidate in the next Legislative Assembly election.

 
Right: Mayor Damien Ryan at last night’s meeting, with Esther Duke of Araluen Christian College, receiving a Student Citizen award.  A Mayor’s ceremonial role offers a wide range of opportunities for positive exposure.
 

This follows debate during the ordinary meeting last night over the assessment by council’s in-house solicitor Chris Turner that the need to manage the situation would be minimal.

 

Councillor Jimmy Cocking felt that Mr Turner had not adequately dealt with the perception of a conflict of interest, while Cr Marli Banks reminded her colleagues that ICAC Commissioner Ken Fleming had told them that “perception of a conflict equals a conflict”.

 

Cr Cocking was unconvinced by Mr Turner’s emphasis on Section 73(2) parts (b) and (c)  of the present Local Government Act to the effect that  having “an interest” does not  amount to having a “conflict of interest” if that interest is shared “in common with the general public or a substantial section of the public”.

 

He argued that those sections do not address the very particular context of the council’s “principal”, the Mayor, seeking political office in another tier of government (and in opposition to the government of the day).

 

Mr Turner’s advice also did not deal with the risk for the council that the government of day is not prepared to engage with council because of what it sees as the Mayor’s conflict of interest, said Cr Cocking.

 

Cr Banks said Mr Turner recognised that there will be “space for conflict” even if minimal and, echoing Cr Cocking, said he didn’t “go deep enough” in addressing the perception of conflict.

 

Cr Catherine Satour agreed, saying Mr Turner speaks to examples that don’t have a conflict of interest, but doesn’t consider examples that do have one.

 

She supported Cr Cocking’s call for seeking independent legal advice. The perception of a conflict will only grow as election draws nearer, she said: “I don’t think this is the last time we’ll be talking about it.”

 

In the meantime, how will council respond to letters on the subject from the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, Cr Banks wanted to know.

 

The Chief Minister’s letter put on hold his response to the issues at hand (community safety, youth strategies) pending council’s response. His letter made clear that he does not want to deal with the Mayor in council’s business with government.

 
Left: On the same Facebook account, @DamienRyanAliceSprings,  Mr Ryan the CLP candidate, and below, Mr Ryan the Mayor. 
 

There was other correspondence in council’s meeting papers from three top level bureaucrats in the Department of Local Government. All had written in the context of councillors nominating as candidates in the next election, with two of them specifically talking about the potential for conflict of interest to arise.

 

Mayor Ryan took comfort in the letter from Jamie Chalker, former CEO of the Department, that such conflicts can be appropriately managed.

 

However, the letter advises that should an elected member seek to participate in a matter in which they have a conflict, they are required to seek approval in writing from the Minister.

 

None of the letters goes into the nitty-gritty of what would constitute a conflict.

 

Cr Eli Melky put the ball in CEO Robert Jennings’s court: how would he answer the Chief Minister?

 

Mr Jennings acknowledged that the “perception test” is important, but it has to be around a specific item, the conflict “doesn’t exist in a vacuum”. Mr Turner’s advice outlined the legal framework, as the ICAC would if a complaint were made.

 

How to deal with the NT Government was a different matter, he said.

 

Cr Glen Auricht accused the Gunner government of “frivolous politicking”. He respected the report by Mr Turner and said council should leave it at that, with the Mayor continuing to work “for the benefit of the community” until the election is called.

 

Cr Cocking had some practical suggestions for the Mayor in managing the perception of conflict. One was to manage his social media accounts with clearer delineation between his role as Mayor and his CLP candidacy, suggesting that this was not currently the case. (See images above and below.)

 

He also suggested that the situation presented the opportunity to distribute some of the Mayor’s responsibilities among other elected members, so people get to see “all the faces” of council, demonstrating council’s “representativeness”.

 

On the last point, Cr Jacinta Price, attending the meeting by phone, said this is what council has always done if the Mayor is unable to attend an event.

 

Cr Banks asked the Mayor how he thought council should manage this perceived conflict of interest.

 

He had managed it from beginning, he replied, and had already “laid things out” for the CEO around future meetings. He said he is in no different a position to many others and will continue as Mayor until writs are served for the election.

 

He described Mr Gunner’s response – not answering the content of the Mayor’s letter, only talking about his position – as “rather disappointing”.

 

Later in the debate, his reaction became stronger: he found the suggestions of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister “very, very offensive”.

 

Cr Banks asked the CEO what had been agreed between himself and the Mayor.

 

Mr Jennings responded in general terms first, saying that the Local Government Act specifically allows an elected member to run for office in another tier of government. A perception of a conflict of interest will be determined “if a conflict note is put in by someone”. That would be tested in reference to the Act, retrospectively. But the conflict needs to “exist in a context” first.

 

Specifically, in relation to an upcoming event at which community members will debate priorities for the NT election, the Mayor had told him he would not attend.

 

On answering the letters from the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, he said he would be guided by the elected members.

 

Cr Banks provided the resolution, seconded by Cr Melky, that the CEO seek independent legal advice and provide a report to council so that appropriate action can be taken to resolve this matter.

 

The Mayor abstained from the vote. Deputy Mayor Matt Paterson and Cr Jamie de Brenni were absent. The motion was carried four votes to two.

 
 
 

6 COMMENTS

  1. When you get caught playing for 2 different teams in the same comp at the same time questions will always be raised.
    Whether real, perceived, invented or otherwise.
    Would one not be questioned if he/she played A Grade for the Blazers, but B Grade for the Vests in the same tiddlywinks competition?
    Public perception, and the perception that what’s being done is fair, reasonable and in the general public interest, is always the key determinator in my book. Ask Bridgett McKenzie!
    It’s fairly obvious Mayor Ryan would like to be the Member for Araluen. As is his right, and others should they choose.
    However, if this is the case, why not pass on the Mayoral baton to someone who actually wants to be the Mayor of Alice Springs?
    What’s to lose?
    The question of a conflict of interest, which seems to taking up a lot of council time and business, will disappear, and council can go about doing its business in clear air.
    I must admit, when taking the reins of Mayor, there’s a lot to be said about requiring such a candidate to commit and dedicate themselves to the full Mayoral term (future heath and/or family matters dependent).
    Whatever political persuasion they may be, as history tells us, this current situation is not unprecedented.
    Although in the past it is fair to say the perceived “conflict of interest” situation was never such an issue as it appears to be now.
    Why was/is that?
    Perhaps Councillor Melky or other hopeful NT political councillors/aspirants could enlighten us?

  2. I am not a fan of our Mayor and not a liberal, however he has served Alice Springs for years in a way he believed was right and he deserves some respect.
    To be Mayor or councillors is not only money or power it is also personal and family sacrifices.
    “The act and the bill both clearly state there is a facility in there for a council member to stand as a candidate for another election, I am not the first, and I definitely won’t be the last who have looked at moving into another level of government,” he said and Alex Nelson explained it very well.
    The question of a conflict of interest: Which councillors belong to or support a political party? Which councillors would love to take the mayoral baton? If we want to be fair: All of them have a hidden / personal agendas.

  3. @ Evelyne Roullet. Agree with you, Evelyne. Damo holds a tough position and is envied for it.
    As the charter stands, all councillors have the right to proceed to the next level of government.
    Section 73(2) needs clarification once and for all to protect all aspiring politicians on council and to clarify the core business of council under the Act.

  4. So, we don’t like the in-house advice re conflicts of interest, obtain further advice. If we don’t like that answer we will get further advice until we get the answer we want. Don’t you worry about that, the mug ratepayer will cover the cost.
    What a mob of clowns trying to run the show!!!!

  5. @ GBC mate. You are describing what can be loosely known as “double jeopardy” in legal jargon. For a moment there, I thought you were describing the 34 Mighty Bomber boys who were found not guilty of taking banned peptide by an Aussie tribunal of County Court judges with 65 years of experience on the bench.
    ASADA [Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority] spat the dummy and flick passed it to WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency] that was looking for a scapegoat to take the heat off for turning a blind eye to the Russian Olympic shame. Then there was Cardinal Pell. First jury did not get the desired result so they got a second jury.
    This a fact of life, mate. The only thing that can protect the delivery of justice as we know it in Western democracy is the integrity of process.
    We need to do is keep reviewing that process ceaselessly, whether it is in our courts, tribunals or Local Council.
    That’s why we need to review Section 73(2) and the Act itself with due diligence to clarify the core role of Council, if only “to keep the bastards honest” as Don Chipp used to say. I reckon my old mate Feddy Damo would be the first to agree!

  6. Your headline, “Gunner demands Council deal with Mayor conflict of interest” suggests Mr Gunner has the problem.
    Several Mayors over the years have announced their candidature into the next level of Government without raising all these legal questions.
    If it’s not sorted to his satisfaction, and remembering the same applies in the Barkly where Mayor Edgington is also a CLP candidate in the coming election, we may have a situation where Mr Gunner and his Ministers ignore the whole Southern Regions for the next 7 months.

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