Brimbank City Council: Abuse of Power

Ms HARTLAND (Western Metropolitan) -- I will speak only very briefly on the Ombudsman's report that was released yesterday, Conflict of Interest and Abuse of Power by a Building Inspector at Brimbank City Council. Unlike what was in the report that we received last week, I think it is quite clear that the council is proactively dealing with these issues.

It is quite clear in the report from a reading of item 21 on page 9 of the report that when the chief executive officer (CEO) or staff of the Brimbank City Council became aware of the misconduct of the building inspector, it was reported to the Ombudsman. We also have to be clear at this stage that the Ombudsman is saying that this report is about one member of staff; it is not about the entire staff of the building or planning department.

There are clearly no links to councillors or members of Parliament in this report. It is also clear that the CEO, Nick Foa, has accepted all the recommendations of the Ombudsman.

I have been a member of a council. I know how difficult these issues are and that building inspectors, staff in the planning department and any member of council who has delegated responsibilities are always going to be susceptible to this. It is also quite clear from this report that the behaviour of this particular building inspector was reprehensible and that the Ombudsman and the council need to refer this matter for further investigation by the police.

The other thing that is clear from the reports tabled last week and this week is that the Office of Local Government needs to be much more diligent about these kinds of issues so that we do not create within councils cultures that allow this kind of behaviour to take place.

Finally, this report shows that Brimbank City Council, at least on the staff side, is addressing the issues that are important to the local community. I hope councillors and members of Parliament who are linked to this council can learn some of those lessons.