Media release – Peter Coad, 4 February 2022
POSSIBLE CORRUPTION IN THE APPOINTMENT OF THE GENERAL MANAGER OF THE HUON VALLEY COUNCIL
The former Mayor of the Huon Valley Council Mr Peter Coad said the Statutory Declaration tabled at the Council Public Meeting held at the Franklin Palais on the 4 February 2022 is possible confirmation that the appointment of the conflicted General Manager was not only flawed, but perhaps corrupted.
Joanne Inches of Red Giant, who council engaged to manage the recruitment process, recommended her partner for the position of General Manager of the Huon Valley Council.
Both the independent reports from Edge Legal and the Auditor General who reviewed the recruitment process found it was flawed.
Former Councillor Mike Wilson who signed the Statutory Declaration has alleged the leaked GM candidate names came from one of the remaining three General Manager Recruitment Panel members.
Mr Wilson also alleges the Panel Member advised him “they were going to appoint Jason Browne as the General Manager”.
This statement was made to Wilson around mid-July 2021.
Mr Coad said, “given the timing of this leaked information it appears the recruitment process was still in progress and that no formal decision had been made by council to appoint Jason Browne.
Former Councillor Wilson was one of the four original members of the GM Recruitment Panel up until 15 June 2021.
On that date, Mr Wilson received a phone call from the then Acting GM Andrew Wardlaw, to ask if he could come and visit him at this home.
When the then Councillor Wilson opened the door the first words to him were “Mike, you’re no longer a councillor.”
Mr Wilson said, “this hit me in the guts big time, I can tell ya. (sic)
“I’ve been diagnosed with cancer twice, and now leukemia, and that hit me worse than anything else I’ve ever had. I just wasn’t expecting it.
“He basically said, you haven’t signed and updated the General Manager’s roll, therefore you are no longer a councillor.”
Mr Coad said, “the removal of one of the Councillor Recruitment Panel members for the technicality of failing to fill in a form, is an important matter and needs to be fully investigated.”
“Councillor Wilson has had over 20 years of experience on council, and in hindsight his removal from the GM Recruitment Panel may have been strategic to assist this flawed GM recruitment process,” said Mr Coad.
The leaked candidate names have been under formal investigation by the Local Government Office since July 2021, however Mr Wilson has never been interviewed by the Director of Local Government.
In seven months, the Local Government Office appears to have failed to interview Mr Wilson, one of the key witnesses of the GM Recruitment Panel. He holds vital information on this whole flawed recruitment process.
In a letter to former Councillor Liz Smith on the 20 September 2021, the then Director of Local Government, Craig Limkin, wrote, “my office has endeavoured to support council to ensure that the process is conducted appropriately and with sufficient rigour and integrity.”
Mr Coad said, “the spotlight has now shifted from the Huon Valley Council who managed the flawed Recruitment process to the involvement of the Minister and the Office of Local Government in allowing this GM conflicted appointment to proceed.
“Now this statutory declaration has come to light, the community need to take this matter up directly with the Solicitor General, the Auditor General and the Police Commissioner, said Mr Coad.
“Given the possible high level political involvement in this matter and the apparent lack of willingness to conduct forensic investigations, then legal action appears to be the only way forward for the community to have their concerns addressed,” said Mr Coad.
“The majority of society still want corruption removed, but unfortunately it has become the accepted norm, as the average person cannot do anything about it,” said Mr Coad.
Amanda Summers
February 5, 2022 at 12:35
This comes from the man who presided over a dysfunctional council, and who is probably the only man in Tasmanian local government history to be part of two sacked councils.
Wilson’s statutory declaration says nothing other than the fact, as a wannabe mayor, he understands confidentiality – and then continues to pass this information on regardless.
The same can be said for Debbie Armstrong as a wannabe councillor.
The noose is tightening …
Chief Editor TT
February 7, 2022 at 12:09
Wilson is not a wannabe councillor nor wannabe mayor. He is no longer a councillor and will not be running again.
bob
February 7, 2022 at 15:18
What a strange statement by Amanda Summers.
Peter Coad, as mayor, fought to get the council sacked because it was dysfunctional. I recall those days as being no fault of Coad that the council was dysfunctional.
Wilson’s statutory declaration certainly offers information that deserves close attention by Tasmania’s state government. His information, in my reading of it, is that something was going on to make the outcome of the recruitment process exactly what unidentified political power-brokers wanted.
In passing, I am under the impression that not a single motion at the public meeting on February 4 offered any kind of defence for the performance of the Huon Valley Council in its General Manager recruitment process, even though various authorities had questioned its integrity before the appointment came before a council meeting for confirmation.
What on earth were six Councillors thinking, with evidence of irregularities before them, when they confirmed the appointment of the candidate chosen by council’s recruitment team?
The fact that one member of the recruitment team had walked out on it should have set alarm bells ringing that something very odd was going on.
Geoffrey Swan
February 7, 2022 at 15:33
It is my understanding that Amanda Summers is the friend of an antagonist’s wife.
The antagonist resides in Cygnet and is connected to a former Mayor and also to a former MLC who both take every opportunity to express their old guard views, even in defence of any Council wrongdoing.
Anna
October 11, 2022 at 21:42
Now there are yet more reasons for some Tasmanian councils to be abolished.
There are questionable goings on everywhere, and it’s also time someone shone a light on Clarence council moving the goalposts to suit its mates. It’s disgusting.