Council CEO Monica Barone failed to forward serious allegations against Liberal Councilllor Shayne Mallard to the Department of Local Government (DLG), according to Greens advocacy group Democracy 4 Sale.
Matthew Drake-Brockman, who works with the Greens project, lodged a complaint with Ms Barone in October last year, with the expectation that it would be forwarded to the DLG as part of their investigations into allegations Cr Mallard took illegal donations.
“When I sent Monica Barone my complaint originally on October 29, she indicated that she would forward it to the Department of Local Government for them to make an assessment,” Mr Drake-Brockman said.
“This never happened as I discovered three months later when the department had dismissed Mallard of any breach – based on his own self-referral.
“Monica claims that she rang the department for advice and they said to just formally advise them she had received a complaint, which she said she did when I contacted her about a month ago.”
Mr Drake-Brockman said he ended up sending the complaint directly to the department.
He said he could not understand why Ms Barone chose not to forward the information to the department. “Yes I’m disappointed. The allegations were serious – basically that he had acted illegally in receiving donations from a hotelier and then voting on two development applications involving that hotelier.”
The department’s decision to reopen Cr Mallard’s case showed the allegations were of a serious nature, said Greens MP Lee Rhiannon. “The Greens are pleased that the Department of Local Government have now acknowledged the information from Drake-Brockman and have said that they’ve found it necessary to alter their assessment and are now looking at the evidence Matt Drake-Brockman has provided,” Ms Rhiannon said.
“The Greens certainly find it curious why the information that was sent to the Sydney City CEO was not forwarded on and that is certainly a matter that we believe does need to be explained.”
A City of Sydney spokesperson defended Ms Barone’s conduct. “The CEO has complied with the Local Government Act and referred matters regarding the disclosure of political donations to the Division of Local Government,” the spokesperson said.
“The City has referred the complaints and all material to the Department of Local Government.”
by Ehssan Veiszadeh
