Over the past 8 months, many issues about the Illawarra Regional Airport have been aired on this website. A consistent matter has been the recent Expression of Interest (EOI) process recently used by council to evict the helicopter operator from the airport. Many respondents have been concerned that there appeared to be a lack of corroborating evidence to support any foul play on behalf of council in this matter. Thanks to the FOI processes, corroborating evidence is coming to light and is becoming available.
The following snippet is an extract from the Department of Local Government (DLG) case notes titled LEASE AND EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR HELICOPTER HANGAR – SHELLHARBOUR CITY COUNCIL (Document 05/314)
“22 March 2005.
The department visited the GM, in relation to this and other concerns about the processes around the runway upgrade. The GM gave assurances that neither Mr W nor himself would be involved in the selection process and that a probity assessment would be conducted to ensure the expression of interest process would be fair. The GM advised that if AEROWASP was awarded the lease he would just learn to live with the decision.”
Frequent readers would remember the scandalously defamatory report that this individual then raised before council on 17 May 2005, and published on the council website. (This report has subsequently been removed after legal action from AEROWASP.)
After the Council was illegally influenced by this council officer, the Director General of the DLG wrote this letter to council:
“23 June 2005
Doc ID A5501
GM
Shellharbour City Council
Dear Mr Wxxx
I refer to the recent EOI process for the leasing of hangars at Illawarra Regional Airport. In particular, I note your report to council’s meeting of 17MAY05.
As you are aware, the department has been undertaking preliminary enquiries into the process surrounding the leasing of the hangars. The department notes and welcomes council’s earlier efforts to ensure there was fairness and balance in the process through the appointment of a suitable assessment panel to provide recommendations of the EOI’s received.
The department is therefore surprised and concerned, having regard to your recognition of the need for yourself and Mr Wxxxxxx to refrain from direct involvement in the assessment process, that you submitted a report that made clear your disagreement with the outcome of the process. It is open to conclude this report was highly influential in council determining not to support the panel’s recommendation to award a lease to AEROWASP.
The department notes you obligations under the council’s code of conduct to “consider issues consistently, promptly and fairly….and in a non-discriminatory manner”. Given that the matters that you raised in your report do not appear to have been part of the assessment criteria for the leasing process, it is unclear what relevance they had to the decision council made. If council wished to include such matters such as the bidder’s capacity to work effectively with council, it was open to council to do so. As I understand it, council did not include this matter, yet later appeared to rely on it in not deciding to award the lease to AEROWASP.
In the circumstances, I request from you an explanation for your actions in intervening in the process, and how you assess them to be consistent with your obligations under the code of conduct. Please also advise of what if any communication you had with the assessment panel regarding your report (ie; did you put the record to the panel, did the panel comment on your report). Please also advise, what if any comment panel members made on your report before it was submitted to council. I look forward to receiving your response within 21 days of the date of this letter.
Yours sincerely,
Garry Payne
Director General”
Guess what? He never even bothered to reply to the Director General of the Department of Local Government……….now that is arrogance!
