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An Integrity Commission investigation has found that two senior officers and an alderman at Glenorchy City Council had conflicts of interest that improperly benefitted the officers.

In a report tabled in State Parliament today, the Commission made 56 findings arising from allegations relating to General Manager, Peter Brooks; General Counsel, Seva Iskandarli; and Alderman Stuart Slade – who was Mayor for some of the period. None of the three are now with the council.

Evidence from 2013-2016 showed that Mr Brooks, Ms Iskandarli and Ald Slade had been strong allies. The investigation related to conflicts of interest and attempts to improperly gain pecuniary benefits, potentially as high as almost $1 million. Their conflicts of interest had resulted in Mr Brooks and Ms Iskandarli obtaining salary increases, promotion and contractual amendments providing financial gain.

In one instance, Ald Slade was instrumental in influencing a performance assessment method, resulting in Mr Brooks receiving an $18,000 performance bonus that he would not otherwise have obtained.

Mr Brooks and Ms Iskandarli had advantaged each other during processes relating to employment conditions and salaries. This included Ms Iskandarli withholding information from the General Manager’s Performance Review Committee.

The report said that the loyalty between Mr Brooks, Ms Iskandarli and Ald Slade existed at the expense of objectivity or the best interests of the council. Attempts by Alderman Kristie Johnston in 2015 and Alderman Matthew Stevenson in 2016 to raise conflict of interest concerns had resulted in “fervent opposition and strong personal criticism, particularly from Ald Slade”.

The Board of the Commission has referred the investigation’s findings to the Director of Local Government, Alex Tay, and to the Mayor, Kristie Johnston. It has asked Mr Tay to consider whether or not the misconduct constitutes offences under the Local Government Act 1993.

Also tabled within the same document are findings of two associated investigations arising from a complaint that the Glenorchy City Council Board of Inquiry had lacked fairness, and that the Board of Inquiry’s draft report had been leaked to media outlets and had therefore corrupted the inquiry process.

The Commission found that the allegations regarding fairness lacked substance and that the leaking of the report did not appear to have negatively affected the process. It dismissed both complaints.

Richard Bingham
Chief Executive Officer
22 May 2018

Media contact:
Teresa Banman
Manager Misconduct Prevention Education and Research
teresa.banman@integrity.tas.gov.au
1300 720 289