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A north-western Sydney council embroiled in an anti-corruption inquiry has dumped a proposal to increase transparency regarding secret and closed-door meetings, saying it was neither practical nor necessary to document every interaction with lobbyists or property developers.
The motion from Labor and Greens councillors in the Liberal-majority Hills Shire Council called for clear rules for councillors and executive leadership interacting with lobbyists and external influential figures. It also proposed an open diary policy, and the creation of an online lobbying register to ensure all meetings were disclosed.
Several councils across Sydney – North Sydney Council, Inner West Council, Sutherland Shire Council, and the City of Sydney – already have some of these policies in place.
While lobbying is not prohibited, and meeting with stakeholders is part of standard council operations, undocumented or secret meetings carried “significant reputational and corruption risks,” the motion noted. Lobbying activities are also put under the microscope when they relate to development applications, planning proposals, or rezoning matters, it said.
Greens councillor Mila Kasby said the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s probe into the Hills Shire Council – now in its third week of public hearings – was the catalyst for the proposed integrity measures.
“Operation Rosny hearings are in the headlines, repeatedly warning local governments about the corruption risks of undocumented lobbying and unmonitored access,” Kasby said at Tuesday night’s council meeting.
Operation Rosny was established after Liberal MP Ray Williams’ now-infamous 2022 speech in which he alleged fugitive developer Jean Nassif had paid “significant funds” to a group of Liberal figures to install new councillors on the Hills Shire Council who would support his development applications for major apartment projects. Most of the councillors allegedly involved are no longer at the council.
Tuesday’s motion was defeated 10 votes to three.
Liberal councillor Alan Haselden said recording interactions and meetings would “overlay council with even more bureaucracy in pursuit of transparency,” and said it would create “further diversion of staff resources”.
Fellow Liberal Jerome Cox said Hills Shire already had an “extensive” recording policy, and adding another would be “one more hassle”.
But a gap in legislation the ICAC has repeatedly recommended reforming is the government’s Lobbying of Government Officials Act. It applies to state officials but not to local councils. In 2022, the local government watchdog, the Office of Local Government, said it was considering creating specific lobbying guidelines for local government. To date, no guidelines have been issued.
Liberal Jacob Jackson conceded the council was central to the ICAC’s Rosny investigation, admitting he was “quite shocked by many of the things that have come up.”
“But I wouldn’t want to get ahead of ourselves and develop anything … I think we’re jumping the gun ahead of ICAC,” Jackson said.
Tuesday night was not the first time the council has attempted to introduce anti-corruption policies. A near identical motion asking for tighter regulations of meetings with lobbyists and developers, and an open diary policy, was put forward three years ago. It was the work of former Liberal councillor Virginia Ellis – the mother of Christian Ellis, one of the ICAC’s targets.
That motion passed, but with significant amendments that removed any mentions of lobbyists, developers, or meetings. Ellis also did not speak on her motion, and neither did any other Liberal councillor.
Speaking after the motion’s defeat on Tuesday, Kasby said any time and money spent on administrative measures to help transparency was a “small price to pay” to protect the council’s reputation.
Her comments came after Councillor Samuel Uno pointed out the motion did not include any predicted costings of the transparency policies.
“Why aren’t we taking extra steps to ensure residents have utmost trust in our processes?” Kasby said.
“We have an active inquiry going on, voting down a dedicated lobbying and transparency motion sends a very damaging message.”
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Cindy Yin is an urban affairs reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.From our partners
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