Shadow Minister for the Central Coast, David Harris, has written to the Local Government Minister, Shelley Hancock, questioning the decision to keep all submissions made to the Public Inquiry into Central Coast Council confidential.
“I have had concerns raised with me by members of the community about the way public submissions will be handled,” Harris’ letter to the Minister, a copy of which has been sent to CCN, said.
Those concerns followed a statement by the Inquiry Commissioner, Roslyn McCulloch, that, on balance, no submissions would be made public.
“While I understand that submissions of a defamatory nature should not be published, submissions which address financial or policy decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis with appropriate redaction removing names,” Harris said in his letter.
“The integrity of having a Public Inquiry is undermined if all submissions are unpublished,” he said.
“Parliamentary Committees consider submissions on a case-by-case basis in regards to publication.
“I have been informed by some community members that when they asked could they have a protected submission they couldn’t be given the guarantee so they did not make a submission.
“Now they are upset to find all submissions are to be confidential which would have meant they could have made their submission,” Harris said.
A spokesperson for the Minister for Local Government, Shelley Hancock, said: “This is an independent process and a matter for the Commissioner.”
Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, Adam Crouch, reiterated the Minister’s office – he said: “The public inquiry is an independent process being conducted by Roslyn McCulloch, a lawyer with over 30 years’ experience in the judicial system.
“The public inquiry is conducted at arms-length from the NSW Government and is entirely controlled by Commissioner McCulloch.”
Commissioner McCulloch and the Office of Local Government were asked for comment and had not responded at the time of going to press.
Shadow Minister for Local Government, Greg Warren, said keeping the submissions private meant the Inquiry was “about as transparent as a brick wall”.
“I understand that the commitment from the government, the Minister, was to have a full and thorough public hearing, that would be a chance for the issues to get a thorough public airing,” Warren said.
“I think it is the least the government can do for the people of the Coast, who are sick and tired of the lack of transparency, when it is the government who are ultimately responsible for many of the problems that have occurred through their forced amalgamation,” he said.
According to Warren, there is nothing stopping local groups and individuals who made submissions from making them public.
“I quite often as a Shadow Minister and local member, get people to put submissions in and they send them to me so people are certainly entitled to do that they can make their submissions public themselves,” he said.
Member for Gosford, Liesl Tesch, said transparency must be paramount if the public is going to trust the inquiry’s findings.
“I am disappointed that the Commissioner has decided not to disclose the submissions regarding the financial collapse and failure of Central Coast Council,” Tesch said.
“Since the beginning our community has cried out for a public inquiry.
“Our petition for a public inquiry garnered more than 20,000 signatures.
“At the time, the NSW Government and Adam Crouch promised that there was no difference between a public or judicial inquiry and that the commission would be transparent in its investigation.
“Obviously some comments amongst the submissions must be redacted to protect witnesses and ensure against defamation.
“I respect the Commissioner as someone who has a difficult task of trying to ascertain where it all went wrong and how to put the pieces back together.
“I urge her to understand that without bringing the community along with the Inquiry’s findings it will be difficult for us all to believe that the collapse of Central Coast Council will be investigated thoroughly and guarded against failure in the future.”
Council’s Administrator, Rik Hart, said he would have no problems with releasing his submission after the event.
“I won’t at this stage as I wouldn’t want to go against the Commissioner’s decision prior to talking to people,” he said.
“Because I don’t understand what her strategy is and I don’t want to second guess her, I will abide by her rules.”
He said he thought it particularly applied to him as he was in the unique position of understanding what went on in the early days of the crisis.
Hart arrived at Central Coast Council in November 2020, brought in as acting CEO by acting Administrator Dick Persson days after Persson accepted the position.
The councillors were suspended on October 28.
“I won’t compromise her approach,” Hart said, explaining it could put pressure on her to release other submissions.
“After the event, no problem,” he said.
CEO David Farmer would not commit to releasing his submission.
“As the Public Inquiry into Central Coast Council is being undertaken by Commissioner Roslyn McCulloch, it is a matter for the Commissioner to determine the public release of submissions to the Inquiry,” he said.
“At this point in time, the Commissioner has elected not to release submissions.
“Therefore it would be premature for me to comment further about my own submission now.
“I will consider the release of my submission following the Inquiry,” he said.
Jackie Pearson and
Merilyn Vale