Media
Release
1-9-06
Labor Councillor Referred to ICAC by his
Council
Randwick City Council has refered Councillor Chris Bastic to ICAC because Council resources were used to make a how-to-vote card for him to use in Labor's pre-selection process for last year's Maroubra bye-election.
Greens Councillor Murray Matson who moved the ICAC motion stated after the meeting that he was concerned that Cr Bastic did not see the matter as serious.
He said,
“Councillor Bastic admitted to the Council that he had asked a Council officer to print the HTV card for him but said that he did not see it as any great matter because of the smallness of the cost involved. This is an amazingly complacent attitude from a former Mayor and our longest serving Councillor.
Councillor Bastic essentially induced a Council officer to perform an act of corruption for him but is now denying the gravity of it. That officer could have been sacked but Cr Bastic believes that he himself should just get a slap on the wrist.”
Cr Matson states that referring the matter to ICAC was necessary to ensure that Council staff and the general community knew that the elected Councillors took the matter seriously and “....were not willing to excuse and protect one of their own.”
He elaborated,
“If we excuse Cr
Bastic's actions then staff will be discouraged from reporting future
Councillors who ask for financial favours because they will remember
that Councillors are lenient when it comes to judging the actions of
one of their own.”
Cr Matson stated that he had decided to take the step of asking Council to refer the matter to ICAC after a recent Council meeting in which he became concerned by comments made by Cr Bastic regarding the appropriateness of Councillors directly approaching staff to approve expenditures.
He elaborated,
“I put a motion up to a recent Council meeting seeking authorisation for a banner to be produced by Council to help a local community body raise funds. Cr Bastic is the top officer holder of that group.
I was disturbed to hear Cr Bastic criticise me for bringing the request to a Council meeting and then announce that he would have simply gone to a senior Council officer and asked for the banner to be supplied to the group.
I realised then that Cr Bastic still retained an inappropriate attitude towards approaching Council staff to provide unauthorised funding for purposes that he had an interest in.
I came to the conclusion that Council had made a mistake last year in not taking the matter of the HTV card more seriously and that this mistake should be rectified. For that reason I put up the motion that was passed yesterday.”
Cr Matson's motion was deferred from a normal Council meeting a week ago and was resolved yesterday at an extraordinary meeting called by the Mayor. The Mayor called the extraordinary meeting to deal with two rescission motions lodged by the Labor party – one of which sort to block a Council decision to send 5 delegates to this month's Local Government and Shires Association conference.
Cr Matson elaborated,.
“The extraordinary meeting had to be called other wise we would not have been able to send delegates to the conference to debate policy issues on behalf of the community. Labor was also trying to block a decision to give $3,000 to the annual SBAR event that raises money to combat child hood cancer.”
Councillor
Matson's successful ICAC motion reads as follows.
That Council
views the production by Council staff of a how-to-vote card for
Councillor Bastic's personal use in the Labor party's pre-selection
process for the Maroubra by-election to be an unacceptable misuse of
Council resources and resolves to refer the matter and all
documentation held on it to ICAC.
CONTACT: Randwick City
Greens Councillor Murray Matson