Victorian Council Dismissals, 1998 to 2019 (Part 1) - August 2019 spence-consulting.com

Victorian Council Dismissals, 1998 to 2019 (Part 1)
August 2019

spence-consulting.com

Spence Consulting                                                                                 2

           Victorian Council Dismissals, 1998 to 2019 (Part 1)
                                    Analysis by Gavin Mahoney, July 2019

“As a matter of principle, dismantling a democratically elected government is never the ideal or
optimal solution” this phrase is often touted when a democratically elected Council is dismissed by
the State Government of the day.

Since amalgamations, eight Councils have been dismissed.

    1.   Nillumbik Shire                October 1998 – March 1999
    2.   Darebin City                   May 1998 – September 1998
    3.   Glen Eira City                 August 2005 – November 2005
    4.   Brimbank City                  September 2009 – October 2016
    5.   Wangaratta Rural City          September 2013 – October 2016
    6.   Greater Geelong City           April 2016 – October 2017
    7.   Central Goldfields Shire       August 2017 – October 2020
    8.   South Gippsland Shire          June 2019 – October 2021

In part 1 of the series, we examine the process, circumstances, logic and reasoning that led to the first four
of the above Councils being dismissed.

Nillumbik Shire Council (October 1998 – March 1999)

On 29th December 1997,the Minister for Local Government appointed David Abrahams as a Commissioner
to conduct an inquiry into matters relating to the affairs of the Shire.

The Inquiry was instigated after fourteen members of the Shires senior management team wrote to the
Minister requesting that he take immediate action in the form of an inquiry to investigate the relationship
between Councillors and the organisation, as the managers had grave concerns about deteriorating
corporate governance.

In addition, community concern had been expressed regarding the payment of a large separation package
to Barry Rochford the CEO.

The Commissioner produced an interim report in May 1998 and observed that good governance had not
been established. Councillors and the CEO had not taken the necessary steps since the election in March
1997 to comply with the requirements of the Local Government Act. The interim report recommended a
course of action designed to ensure that procedures and processes were implemented to achieve
compliance with the Act.

The Commissioners final report of 18 August 1998 noted: “It is the joint opinion of the group of managers at
Nillumbik that there is now a cycle of debilitation at Nillumbik that is again impacting on staff morale. I
ascertain that the staff generally considered my interim report and recommendations provided the Council
with a golden opportunity to set procedures and processes to overcome the previous concerns of staff as
outlined in the interim report. The group managers at Nillumbik consider the opportunity provided to Council
has been frittered away because of personal agendas of Councillors that have frustrated the
implementation of the recommendations”.

On 13th October 1998, the Governor in Council made an order in Council which suspended the Councillors
and appointed Merv Whelan as the Interim Administrator.

Spence Consulting                                                                                3

This action was taken by the government following the consideration of recommendations prepared by
Commissioner David Abraham on 18 August 1998.

The recommendations were made following a request from the Minister to ascertain the desired outcomes
sought in his interim report of May 1998 being achieved by council.

Those outcomes were in summary;

“that a consultant establish procedures and processes for the management of council business recognising
the requirements of the act and good governance”
“that council revoke earlier resolutions, designed to restrict the role of the CEO and staff in the management
of council administration”
“that council meetings comply with local laws”
“that the council cease efforts to vary the CEO’s contract of employment”
“that the consultant review the terms of reference od council committees”
“that the council complete the CEO’s performance review without delay”
“that a facilitator be appointed to develop protocols for the interaction between councillors, the CEO and
staff”
“that reports be provided by council and the consultant in relation to the implementation of procedures for
the management of council business to Commissioner Abraham”
“that the council consider and report to the commissioner on the merits of increasing the number of
councillors to seven, such a report to be available by 30 September 1998.

On 3 June Minister recommended to council that it take the necessary action to secure the outcomes Mr
Abraham had sought by instituting the measures he recommended.

Commissioner Abrahams reported concluded that;
“the recommendations that you (Minister) have made to the Nillumbik shire Council on 3 June 1998 will not
be implemented either in identical terms or substantially similar terms and therefore the prospects of
achieving the desired outcomes are rapidly receding… Whilst some of the recommendations have been
embraced, the substantial matters have not.

On 22nd October 1998, Local Government Minister Robert Maclellan introduced the Local Government
(Nillumbik Shire Council) Act 1998 to dismiss the Council and set a date for the general election of 20
March 1999, it was assented to on 24th November.

Darebin City Council (May 1998 – September 1998)

In December 1996 then Minister for Local Government Robert Maclellan wrote to the Mayor of Darebin
announcing the appointment of David Elsum to carry out a Commission of Inquiry into the Council. The
Inquiry went onto state that:

During September 1996 some employees of the Darebin City Council were made redundant. Other
employees then went on strike. Some Darebin Councillors criticised the way the redundancies had
occurred. The CEO delegations relating to industrial relations matters were withdrawn by the Council while
Councillors negotiated with the Australian Services Union to settle the strike.

With rising community concern about governance of the City, the Minister for Local Government spoke with
the Mayor of Darebin. ‘It was suggested that a Mediator be appointed to assist the Council and the Chief
Executive Officer. This suggestion was rejected by the Councillors of the Darebin City Council”.

Spence Consulting                                                                                  4

An inquiry into various matters relating to the affairs of the Darebin City Council was then commissioned by
the Minister.

Terms of reference for the inquiry were:

“Whether since 1 September, there has been a good working relationship between the Councillors and the
CEO.

“The Circumstances which have occurred since 1 September, which led to the withdrawal and
reinstatement of delegations from the Council to the CEO in relation to staffing and industrial relations
matters”.

“The action taken by Councillors since 1 September, either individually or collectively, which may have had
a bearing on the working relationship between the Councillors and the CEO”.

“Whether there have been any threats made by the Councillors to any person in relation to the employment
of the CEO”.

“The conduct and performance of duties by the CEO since 1 September”.

“Whether the affairs of the City of Darebin are being, or have been affected, by any or all of the above
matters and, in particular whether these matters have had, or are likely to have, detrimental implications for
the ongoing Council leadership of the organisation and the employment of staff at the City of Darebin under
accepted professional standards.”

The Minister advised Parliament that “on 13 June 1997 the Governor in Council made an order in Council
which suspended Councillors and appointed Don Gillies as the administrator of the Council. This action was
taken by the Government following the consideration of a report prepared by Commissioner David Elsum
into matters at the Darebin City Council. The Report found that good governance had broken down at the
Council through a series of factional conflicts and a breakdown in the relationship between Councillors and
the CEO.

The appointment of Mr. Gillies, was intended to overcome the unrest which was inherent throughout the
Council and to restore good governance at the Council. Unfortunately, the suspended Councillors were not
been willing to cooperate fully with the administrator”.

As a result, The Local Government Act (Darebin City Council) Act 1998, assented 19th May 1998, dismissed
the Councilors, maintained the continuity of the administrator Mr Gillies, and set the next council election for
12 September 1998.

The measure was supported by both parties in the Parliament.

Former Councillors Steven Tsitas, Tim Lawrence, Chris Kelly, Royce Kierl (Snr) were returned to office at
the September 1998 elections.

Glen Eira City Council (August 2005 – November 2005)

In March 2004, Council appointed its Internal Auditors (PwC) to conduct an independent review of the
Council’s Civic Support and Expenses Policy, including an assessment of compliance by Councillors with
the terms and conditions of the policy.

Council considered the report in “Confidential Business” in September and resolved to:

Spence Consulting                                                                                  5

Immediately write to the Local Government Minister requesting the appointment of a Municipal Inspector
asking that Municipal Inspector investigate and report on such matters as the Municipal Inspector sees fit;
and request of the Minister that the report of the Inspector be made public as soon as possible and
authorise a public statement be made specifying that “Glen Eira City Council has written to the Minister
seeking the appointment of a Municipal Inspector to investigate and report publicly on matters arising from
an audit of Councillors expenses and use of Council facilities”.

Local Government Minister Candy Broad in December 2004 established Terms of Reference for the
Inspector (Merv Whelan) which were:

    •   “To provide an overview of governance at Council, including but not limited to relationships between
        Councillors and Council staff; adequacy of governance policies in place at the Council, and
        compliance with those policies by Councillors and staff, particularly relating to financial matters; use
        of Council property and resources; the adequacy of Councillor induction programs; and the
        operation of the Audit Committee of Council”.

    •   “To advise on the action that is being taken and should be taken to redress any deficiencies in
        governance at Council”.

    •   “To advise on any other matters that may arise as a result of the review by the Inspector of
        Municipal Administration”.

The “Report of Investigation into Glen Eira City Council” was provided to the Minister in July 2005, it found:

    •   The elected Council had failed, and continues to fail, to provide good government primarily due to
        serious breakdown in working relationships between Councillors and an incapacity and
        unwillingness by them to positively pursue any remedial action.

    •   Their Conduct is characterised by hostile, acrimonious behaviour, denigration of colleagues and a
        lack of mutual respect and good will – behaviour which seriously inhibits their decision-making
        capacity.
    •   They are widely perceived as ineffectual and irrelevant.

    •   According to the Councillors themselves, attempts to implement change have been completely
        ineffective because entrenched bitterness and resentment between them has negated any will to
        achieve it.

    •   Council is recognised as a high performing municipality due to the expertise and professionalism of
        the CEO and the administration. Their competence has, to a large extent, concealed the
        inadequacy of Councillor performance.

    •   Concerns have arisen about the detrimental impact Councillor behaviour will have on the future
        performance of the City. The working relationships between several Councillors and the CEO have
        deteriorated, and measures have been taken by the CEO and Directors to protect staff from
        negative Councillor influence.

    •   The Council has been given ample advice, time and opportunity to rectify it deficiencies. A break in
        electoral representation will send a clear message that a continuing and serious failure to provide
        good governance is unacceptable. It should also initiate positive change towards restoring
        responsible elected representation to the City.

    •   Accordingly, I recommend that you (the Minister) consider suspending the Councillors and
        appointing and administrator for approximately four months, pending the general election of
        Councillors scheduled for the last Saturday in November 2005.

Spence Consulting                                                                                     6

On 9 August 2005 the Governor in Council made an order in Council which suspended the Councillors and
appointed Mr John Lester as the Administrator (a former Darebin Commissioner).

Parliament adopted the Local Government (Further Amendment) Bill in August 2005, the Bill provided for
the dismissal of Councillors Margaret Esakoff, Jamie Hyams, Bob Bury, Veronica Martens, Peter Goudge,
Rachelle Sapir, Alan Grossbard, Dorothy Marwick, Noel Erlich and for elections to occur at the General
Elections on 26th November 2005.

At the General Election in 2005 Margaret Esakoff was re-elected.

Note: Council did experience a VEC boundary representation review which adjusted ward boundaries for
the 2005 General Election.

Brimbank City Council September 2009 – October 2016

On 30 July 2008 The ALP Member for Keilor raised in parliament the issue of allegations of corruption,
bribery, misuse of Council funds, threats, mismanagement, improper behaviour and Council’s failure to
govern effectively.

 Via a petition with 100 signatures – asking the Minister for Local Government (Richard Wynne) to immediately
 intervene in the Council which has become ungovernable due to one Cr Natalie Suleyman not being endorsed for
 the state seat of Kororoit. She is taking out her revenge on the community with her majority group of
 Councillors, this blatant abuse of power without due care for the health, safety and wellbeing of the residents of
 Brimbank. This is the reason we ask the minister forthwith to dissolve the City of Brimbank and appoint a
 commissioner to govern the City
  - George Seitz, 30 July 2008 Hansard.

 *The petition was tabled after an ABC Stateline program of 25th July 2008, in which several serious
 allegations were raised including branch stacking, misuse of Council money and misuse of Council property.

The Shadow Minister (Jeanette Powel) wrote to the Victorian Ombudsman George Brower requesting an
investigation into the Council, enclosing a copy of Hansard that included the member for Keillor’s
allegations.

The Ombudsman agreed to conduct a formal ‘Investigation into the alleged improper conduct of Councillors
at Brimbank City Council’ and tabled his findings as follows:

What emerged from this investigation was that a great deal of Councillors’ attention, if not most, was
devoted to accommodating factional and personal agendas, and not to performing their functions in
accordance with the best interests of the community. The factionalism that existed within the last elected
Council (2005-08), and the risk that this may be continuing within the new Council, raises the issue of
whether the Council is capable of governing in accordance with its statutory objectives. In light of this, I
have recommended that the Minister closely monitor the activities of the Council and, should the poor
practices that occurred prior to the 2008 election continue, that he consider suspending or dismissing the
Council with a view to enabling Brimbank to be properly and effectively governed.

The Investigation also recommended that:

    •   Local Government Victoria investigate possible breaches of the Local Government Act by several
        Councillors, with a view to determining whether action should be taken against them.
    •   The Victorian Electoral Commission investigate possible breaches of the Electoral Act by a political
        party.

Spence Consulting                                                                                  7

    •   The Local Government Act be amended to prohibit elected Councillors from being employed by
        Federal and State Members of Parliament during their term on Council.
    •   Brimbank review its policies in relation to Councillor mobile telephone use, regularly audit Councillor
        mobile telephone bills and publish each individual’s total mobile telephone usage on the Brimbank
        website quarterly.
    •   Measures be taken to ensure Local Government Victoria is sufficiently resourced to meet its
        statutory requirements in relation to investigating breaches of the Local Government Act.
    •   Local Government Victoria introduce a dedicated investigative team to investigate complaints under
        the Local Government Act.

On 12 May 2009, the State Government announced that Mr Bill Scales AO had been appointed as an
Inspector of Municipal Administration to oversee the governance of the Council and monitor the Council’s
implementation of the Ombudsman’s recommendations.

In September 2009, Mr Scales’ Report on the monitoring of the ongoing activities and performance of the
Brimbank City Council was tabled in Parliament. Mr Scales reported:

        “My monitoring and investigations over the past three months has proved that a majority of
        Councillors of the current Brimbank City Council have continued to exhibit in important areas some
        of the very same poor practices that led to the Ombudsman’s initial investigation and his
        recommendations. Taking all these matters into account and given the systemic nature of the
        problems with the Brimbank City Council I have decided to recommend that you consider
        suspending and/or dismissing the Councillors of Brimbank City Council”.

The Councillors were subsequently suspended by an Order in Council on the recommendation of the
Minister for Local Government. On 18 November 2009, the Councillors (Crs Margaret Giudice, Troy
Atanasovski, Sam David, Marion Martin, Maria Kiselis, Tran Siu, Geraldine Brooks, Stuart Miller, Robert
Shamon, Robert Bozinovski and Heidi Seitz) were dismissed and replaced with administrators under the
Local Government (Brimbank City Council) Act 2009.

Initially the administrators, were to govern until scheduled general elections in November 2012.

Ironically the Council elected in 2008 was dismissed despite the initial Ombudsman’s investigation being
carried out on the previous Council and Councillors elected in 2005 (Crs Troy Atanasovski, Jenny Barboza,
Ken Caper, Sam David, Miles Dymott, Costas Socratous, Anthony Abate, Kathryn Eriksson, Natalie
Suleyman, Margaret Giudice, Marilyn Zukazski).

In 2009, the Local Government Act was amended with one of the major reforms being to prohibit elected
Councillors from being employed by Federal and State Members of Parliament as Ministerial officers,
Parliamentary advisers or electorate officers during their term on Council.

In March 2012 the Local Government Minister, Jeanette Powell introduced the Local Government
(Brimbank City Council) Amendment Bill 2012 The purpose of the bill was to extend the period of
administration at Brimbank City Council, in order to complete the restoration of good governance to that
municipality.

On 24th May 2014 the Local Government Minister Tim Bull successfully moved the further amendment to
the Local Government (Brimbank City Council) Act 2009 for the purpose to further extend the period of
administration at Brimbank Council in order to complete the restoration of good governance.

Brimbank went to general elections in 2016. Four former Councillors contested the elections with Crs
Margaret Giudice and Sam David successful whilst Troy Atanasovski and Stuart Miller were unsuccessful.

Spence Consulting                                                                              8

Administrators who served the City (Panel of 3) from 2009 – 2016 were:

Peter Lewinsky (Initial Chair), Joanne Anderson, Meredith Sussex.
John Watson (Chair), Jane Nathan, John Tanner.

References

Nillumbik Shire

Nillumbik Shire Council Commission of Inquiry, David Abraham August 1998.
Victorian Hansard, October 22, 1998.

Darebin City

Preston Post - Times, 20 and 27 March 1996, March 26 and April 9 1997.
Victorian Hansard, 9, 23 and 30th April 1998.
Victorian Parliament – Explanatory Memorandum Local Government (Darebin City Council) Bill
Inquiry into the Darebin City Council, April 1997, David Elsum
State Library of Victoria

Glen Eira City

Victorian Electoral Commission
Age Newspaper, 11 August 2005
Victorian Hansard, 17 August, 7 September 2005
Report of Investigation into Glen Eira City Council, M.Whelan.

City of Brimbank

Victorian Electoral Commission
Victorian Ombudsman’s Investigation into the alleged improper conduct of Councillors at Brimbank City
Council May 2009.
Victorian Ombudsman’s recommendations – second report into their implementation October 2010.
Inspector of Municipal Administration report on Brimbank City Council – Mr William Scales September
2009.
Victorian Electoral Commission, Response to the ombudsman’s report on alleged improper conduct of
Councillors at Brimbank City Council, August 2009
Victorian Hansard 30 July 2008, 13, 14 & 15 October 2009, 17 November 2009, 23 May 20012, 19 June
2012, 23 & 29 May 2014,

In 2012 the Local Government “Good Governance Guide” was published with a view to helping local
governments govern better. Produced by several experienced local government practitioners, Councillors,
and senior officers, a practical resource for anyone involved in the decision-making process in Victorian
local government.

Rather than try to cover every aspect of local government activity, it focuses on the areas where good
governance has the most impact and offers suggestions for how it can work.

It is recognised as a must read for potential, new and long serving Councillors and can be found at
https://www.vlga.org.au/sites/default/files/Good-Governance-Guide%20%281%29.pdf

Spence Consulting                 9

For additional details contact: