This Sydney council was branded a disaster. The boss saw it differently

2 weeks ago 3

A Sydney council boss has told an inquiry that staff named in a scathing NSW Office of Local Government investigative report, which raised allegations of systemic misconduct and widespread dysfunction, were “gutted” and denied procedural fairness.

Liverpool City Council chief executive Jason Breton told the public inquiry into alleged maladministration and dysfunction at the council that the interim report, which last year named at least 10 staff members, including senior executives, was “fundamentally flawed”.

Liverpool Council chief executive Jason Breton gives evidence at the inquiry on Tuesday.

“All the naysayers, who love chaos, just piled on, and used the report as an instrument for further chaos and disruption. It was a very, very difficult time,” Breton said on Tuesday.

The council launched legal action against Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig in the NSW Land and Environment Court after Hoenig said he intended to appoint an administrator and postpone the local government election last September to allow for a months-long public inquiry that would probe serious and systemic problems detailed in the report.

The court later found the report had failed to observe the requirements of procedural fairness because it was published without giving those who were named an opportunity to respond.

Breton, a former NSW Police detective chief inspector and the council’s ex-director of operations, was permanently appointed to the council’s top job in April. He replaced former chief executive John Ajaka, the organisation’s 10th permanent or acting CEO in eight years, who was sensationally ousted after falling out with Mayor Ned Mannoun.

A truck outside the Liverpool City Council building the day the interim report was released in July last year.

Questioned by Mannoun’s lawyer, Claire Palmer, on Tuesday, Breton blasted aspects of the interim report as “really unfair” and “improper”.

“I thought it was the worst investigation report that I, as a former detective chief inspector, have ever read in my life,” he said.

Breton said he provided a response to the government criticising the report as he was motivated by “a strong desire to support my staff who were caught up in that, and a belief that the interim report – a report without precedent – was of such poor quality that the minister could not rely on it”.

Breton said employees named in the document “were gutted” and in “absolute disbelief”.

“They could not believe … the opportunity to address the claims within was non-existent. I think collectively that’s really what upset them the most. These are just workers who are doing their jobs.

“People told me it caused anguish and concern with their family members, their reputation, and it really affected them personally.”

Breton said the report had “set us back again months and years in relation to repairing the [council’s] brand”, and would be “hanging over us” until the probe and inquiry were resolved.

“All the people involved are tainted. It reminds me of ICAC in the early days, where you could never clear a finding, it was impossible. It’s a difficult personal position for them.”

The hearing continues before commissioner Ross Glover. Mannoun is yet to give evidence.

The weeks-long inquiry is examining councillors’ conduct, as well as the council’s handling of finances, property purchases, staff employment, and $150 million in state government grants.

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