NEW and returned candidates for Victorian councils have been warned that the state’s peak anti-corruption body is watching them closely.
Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission deputy commissioner David Wolf said last week that the watchdog is committed to preventing the misuse of public office.
“IBAC works closely with the Local Government Inspectorate and the Victorian Electoral Commission to take complaints and investigate any allegations of misconduct or corruption in council elections. We also work closely with the Victorian Ombudsman on other council related matters,” he said.
“Despite our different areas of responsibility, the integrity agencies share intelligence to make sure that every complaint, no matter who it is made to, ends up with the right agency. Our inter-agency collaboration continues post-election, where the focus shifts to supporting newly elected councillors to make sure they understand the integrity responsibilities of their role, particularly around managing conflicts of interests and not misusing their position for personal gain.
“Unfortunately, there have been too many recent examples of the negative and insidious impact of corruption in local government. IBAC and other integrity agencies are committed to working together to detect and expose activities which undermine the very foundations of our democracy. And importantly, we support councils to strengthen their integrity approaches.”
Mr Wolf said that he expects a “significant” number of complaints to be made this year, and that resources have been allocated to look into them.
IBAC’s role in holding local government to account was on full display during their investigation into Casey Council. All Casey councillors were sacked in February after IBAC investigated allegations that corrupt conduct involving councillors and property developers had taken place. Their public hearings into that matter will restart next week.
Election results for Kingston are expected imminently. The VEC has started reporting some results for other councils already, and will be updating their results throughout this week and next. Final results are expected on 13 November at the latest.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 4 November 2020