Tom Sharp's
Blog
14-01-2021
SHARP COMMENT 9 - Happy New Year
Happy New Year to one and all and here’s hoping for a less bumpy ride in 2021.
It has been brought to my attention the Tamborine Mountain Chamber of Commerce addressed my comment titled “Toxic Culture, Woeful Leadership, Clandestine Behaviour on Display” in the 17.12.2020 edition of Scenic News to its membership.
In response, I stand behind every statement I made and now call upon councillors to roll back the Council “gag order” and “CEO information request policy” along with “confidential briefings” and all internal policies that remove the responsibilities of councillors to represent the constituency, the strategic direction of our council and how our money is spent. I call upon councillors to restore governance to this region along with accountability by restoring transparency with an open meeting and decision-making process in accordance with the State’s legislation; and lifting the lid on the absolute waste, utter inefficiency and total interference being inflicted on this region.
“Conflict of Interest” raised its head at the final council meeting of 2020 and if you listen to the audio (over six hours, a lot of which related to naval gazing and the definition of the word “discussion”) you would think the SRRC are “Lost in Space”.
The matter arose in relation to item 11.3, the Water for Warrill Stage 1 Project, when both the Mayor, Cr Greg Christensen, and Deputy Mayor, Cr Duncan McInnes, declared potential conflicts of interest. The Deputy Mayor declared he would not remain in the meeting for item 11.3.
Cr Christensen proposed to stay in the meeting for the consideration of the matter and went on to propose he would stay during the discussion of this matter as an overall benefit to the public interest, believing his broader business background and community engagement offered benefit to the consideration of the issue.
He went on to state that the legislation required “non-conflicted” councillors to consider his request and provide resolution and direction accordingly.
On his leaving the room, Cr McInnes took the Chair and opened the floor to questions and discussion, followed by a motion on the matter. Cr Enright noted that given the Mayor’s business background and advocacy work it was an imperative that the Mayor take part in the matter, while Cr Swanborough noted precedence in relation to conflicts arising from Cr Christensen’s directorship in Binya Pty Ltd and said this case was no different, citing that the Mayor should not participate in item 11.3. Cr Enright was offered the right of reply to Cr Swanborough’s position but stood silent. This is an interesting position to take given the language taken earlier using the word “imperative”.
When it came time to vote Cr McInnes elected to participate in the vote, directly contravening the legislation and directive from the Mayor. This brought the vote to a 3-all deadlock. Cr McInnes then took it upon himself to break the deadlock and empower the Chair with a casting vote in favour of the motion, enabling the Mayor to be present during the discussion, ignoring the legislation and directive for a second time.
Not only was a motion voted on and held up against legal procedure, but the motion was also not even followed. The motion only allowed the Mayor to sit in on the discussion and nowhere stated he could vote on the matter.
The Mayor’s opening statement also failed in its clarity with regard to the matter and led to a question from Cr Swanborough suggesting he could not vote, to which the Mayor replied: “I said I would vote on this matter.” If you listen to the audio, this was never once stated.
The motion under legislative requirement was defeated 3 votes to 2.
I will sign-off with a quote from “Lost in Space” character Dr Zachary Smith: “Let’s try this again, shall we? You are the puppet; I am the puppeteer. Do try to get it right this time….”
Part 2 of the Water for Warrill Project next week.
It has been brought to my attention the Tamborine Mountain Chamber of Commerce addressed my comment titled “Toxic Culture, Woeful Leadership, Clandestine Behaviour on Display” in the 17.12.2020 edition of Scenic News to its membership.
In response, I stand behind every statement I made and now call upon councillors to roll back the Council “gag order” and “CEO information request policy” along with “confidential briefings” and all internal policies that remove the responsibilities of councillors to represent the constituency, the strategic direction of our council and how our money is spent. I call upon councillors to restore governance to this region along with accountability by restoring transparency with an open meeting and decision-making process in accordance with the State’s legislation; and lifting the lid on the absolute waste, utter inefficiency and total interference being inflicted on this region.
“Conflict of Interest” raised its head at the final council meeting of 2020 and if you listen to the audio (over six hours, a lot of which related to naval gazing and the definition of the word “discussion”) you would think the SRRC are “Lost in Space”.
The matter arose in relation to item 11.3, the Water for Warrill Stage 1 Project, when both the Mayor, Cr Greg Christensen, and Deputy Mayor, Cr Duncan McInnes, declared potential conflicts of interest. The Deputy Mayor declared he would not remain in the meeting for item 11.3.
Cr Christensen proposed to stay in the meeting for the consideration of the matter and went on to propose he would stay during the discussion of this matter as an overall benefit to the public interest, believing his broader business background and community engagement offered benefit to the consideration of the issue.
He went on to state that the legislation required “non-conflicted” councillors to consider his request and provide resolution and direction accordingly.
On his leaving the room, Cr McInnes took the Chair and opened the floor to questions and discussion, followed by a motion on the matter. Cr Enright noted that given the Mayor’s business background and advocacy work it was an imperative that the Mayor take part in the matter, while Cr Swanborough noted precedence in relation to conflicts arising from Cr Christensen’s directorship in Binya Pty Ltd and said this case was no different, citing that the Mayor should not participate in item 11.3. Cr Enright was offered the right of reply to Cr Swanborough’s position but stood silent. This is an interesting position to take given the language taken earlier using the word “imperative”.
When it came time to vote Cr McInnes elected to participate in the vote, directly contravening the legislation and directive from the Mayor. This brought the vote to a 3-all deadlock. Cr McInnes then took it upon himself to break the deadlock and empower the Chair with a casting vote in favour of the motion, enabling the Mayor to be present during the discussion, ignoring the legislation and directive for a second time.
Not only was a motion voted on and held up against legal procedure, but the motion was also not even followed. The motion only allowed the Mayor to sit in on the discussion and nowhere stated he could vote on the matter.
The Mayor’s opening statement also failed in its clarity with regard to the matter and led to a question from Cr Swanborough suggesting he could not vote, to which the Mayor replied: “I said I would vote on this matter.” If you listen to the audio, this was never once stated.
The motion under legislative requirement was defeated 3 votes to 2.
I will sign-off with a quote from “Lost in Space” character Dr Zachary Smith: “Let’s try this again, shall we? You are the puppet; I am the puppeteer. Do try to get it right this time….”
Part 2 of the Water for Warrill Project next week.