At the 25 October 2023 Ordinary Meeting of the Huon Valley Council, Mayor Sally Doyle in an opening announcement stated:

“Further questions relating to the General Manager’s departure from Council will not be answered.”

(Meeting video clip here.)

 “I acknowledge that the community have (sic) an expectation to know why, when and how things happen. Legal advice obtained from Simmons Wolfhagen further confirms that the information relating to the resignation of the general manager is indeed confidential personal information at this time.

“The amounts paid to the general manager in respect of his departure from council will be required to be disclosed in the council’s annual report. The annual report requirement is a legal mechanism which provides for the disclosure of the otherwise confidential information at that time.

“Further questions relating to the General Manager’s departure from council will not be answered,” said Doyle.

It is now clear that Jason Browne did not resign of his own choosing. It is confirmed Browne substantially failed his General Manager’s performance review, (4 out of 10) and it has since been confirmed Browne did receive a payout on his departure.

If the Mayor and her fellow councillors have their way, the extent of his ‘golden handshake’ will not be known until it is published in the 2023/2024 Annual Report which is over 12 months away.

Unless a whistleblower comes forward, or the results of an already-submitted Right to Information request reveals the full amount of public monies that have been handed out to Browne, the community of the Huon Valley and council staff will have no idea whether Browne received the much-speculated payout of $250,000, or if he received even more out of his $1.25 million dollar five year contract.

Following media questions from Tasmanian Times sent to Doyle, one of the councillors, obviously keen to support the Mayor and with a ‘nothing to see here’ attitude responded:

“Mr Browne’s decision not to continue past 2 years is an annoying cost to the community, but it can hardly be seen as a failure of the last council or the current Mayor.”

In the past three weeks since Browne’s departure 3 October 2023, there are many questions being raised in a number of active Huon Valley Facebook groups.

One such commentator wrote:

“The council has closed discussion around Browne’s ‘resignation’ on legal advice. Yet the mayor indicated that money was paid to him, the amount of which will be published in next year’s annual report. Which of our councillors has the strength of character to tell their electors and friends the reasons, surely there is one or more with the courage to keep their electors informed?

“Was it poor performance, financial or sexual misbehaviour, or did he have health issues, just fed up with the job or what?

“The lack of transparency is very damaging to all, especially as it appears council paid him some of our money to ‘resign’. One thing is obvious is that the acting GM is doing a better job.

“Axing Browne may have been a good decision but this secrecy and possible secret ‘resignation’ payments will damage the council and Browne.”

Other questions being raised include:

“Did Council request Mr Browne to terminate his position as GM in accordance with his contract of employment, yes or no, and if yes, why did the council offer Mr Browne the option of resignation?”

“If no, did Mr Browne breach the terms of his contract of employment by not completing the term and conditions of his contract?”

“If Browne did receive a golden handshake over and above the entitlements of his contract of employment, what was the justification for Council to establish such a decision, and how was the position taken by the council in the best interest of the Huon Valley ratepayers?”

And the crucial question remains:

“Why did Browne receive any payment of public funds on his departure, over and above any accrued leave, and is the cover up that is now underway, not only showing a total disregard for the ratepayers, and are our elected councillors now attempting to deceive the community?”

The decisions and actions of HV Council in the termination of Browne cannot be considered confidential given he is paid by the ratepayer. Council must now act in the interest of openness and transparency, and most certainly the Mayor must not act with such contempt for the electorate.

If Council continues to refuse to provide this public information, then the next move for the community is to call on the Minister and the Auditor-General to request a full investigation into the termination of Browne, and to report the outcomes of their findings to the Huon Valley community.

The then Acting Mayor Doyle led and managed the flawed GM recruitment process back in July 2021 whilst former Mayor Enders was having a failed tilt at getting into parliament.

In an October 2021 Report the Auditor-General Rod Whitehead declared the recruitment to be flawed, and that the conduct engaged in by the council in managing the conflict falls below expected standards of managing conflicts, particularly having regard to the need for public confidence in the recruitment process of its general manager.

Are the current actions of Doyle over the departure of Browne again highlighting her failure to ensure public confidence in local governance?

Two councillors resigned from council over the flawed process and there remains a Code of Conduct matter which has been ongoing from before the 2022 councillor elections, and which is currently in the Magistrates Court over Doyle’s part to play in the flawed recruitment.

There are calls for Doyle to at minimum stand down from the new GM recruitment process, and for her to appoint Deputy Mayor Thorpe to lead the recruitment in accordance with section 27 of the Local Government Act 1993.

There are also ongoing calls for Doyle to resign as Mayor and councillor given the part she played in the GM recruitment fiasco that has cost ratepayers and council staff dearly in the three and a bit years since July 2021. The payout to Browne is only a ‘temporary secret’ as Doyle herself has advised it will be detailed in the 2023/2024 Huon Valley Council Annual Report.

There is no reasonable explanation to not advise the community now. Or is it because Doyle along with her fellow councillors, are concerned that because the payout is substantial then the disclosure could cause ratepayer outrage?

If the council is unable to provide the justification for any possible ‘golden handshake’, then the community can request the council and the Minister for Local Government to not proceed with the appointment of a new General Manager until the outcomes of any Local Government review recommendations are known, and until the community has had the opportunity to determine the future of the Huon Valley Council.

Failing that, if council fails to address these questions adequately a formal petition could be presented to parliament to enable the community to establish the future of the Huon Valley Council.

In September 2021, the Huon Valley Residents and Ratepayers Association president Patrick Synge welcomed the Auditor-General’s proposed investigation. Synge at the time said:

Pat Synge, image courtesy The Mercury.

“We have a new general manager who joins the HVC under a cloud, and the entire process has been so poorly handled that it is now going to be examined by the Auditor-General, and that council needed to regain the trust of the community.

“At this stage, simple words of assurance are not sufficient,” he said, ” and now is the time to release real information, not spin.

“Council must not hide behind claims of confidentiality of personal information, it is the details of process that are important and must be released, [not the personal details of any applicant].”

What Synge said over two years ago relating to transparency is today even more pertinent in 2023, as the relatively inexperienced Huon Valley councillors struggle with understanding their respective duties as elected representatives of the community.