Arthur Moses SC’s independent review of the investigation into the allegations has been released and a copy of the reports will be provided to ICAC and the Minister for Local Government.
The investigation, which was led by Ms Kath Roach of SINC Solutions, looked into allegations made under parliamentary privilege by State MPs Tania Mihailuk and Wendy Lindsay and related to planning matters between 2009-2022.
Mr Moses was asked to review the SINC Solutions investigation to ascertain whether there was any evidence of any unlawful, or corrupt conduct by any elected official, or Council employees.
He also examined whether there were any breaches under Council’s Code of Conduct or the Local Government Act.
Key findings include:
• No evidence that Mayor Asfour has, or at any relevant time had any business or personal relationships with Eddie Obeid, or his son Paul.
• No evidence that Mayor Asfour failed to declare and manage conflicts of interest in respect of decisions concerning the West Terrace carpark. And further that Mayor Asfour was not directly involved in any decisions with respect to planning matters concerning the Bellevue Venue site.
• No conduct identified as being in breach of the Code of Conduct, or LGA Act which could be deemed corrupt conduct for the purposes of the ICAC Act, or an offence for the purpose of any other Act.
• In relation to the allegations made by Ms Mihailuk and Ms Lindsay there is no evidence of any corrupt or unlawful act, or breaches of the Code of Conduct/Local Government Act by the Mayor Khal Asfour or any employee of Council.
• Council had in place at all relevant times, appropriate corporate governance with respect to corruption prevention measures. And the General Manager and senior staff proactively took steps to ensure that Councillors were meeting their obligations in respect of the Code of Conduct.
• Council at all relevant times sought to adhere to its obligations to investigate.
Mr Moses found the evidence presented showed that Mayor Asfour had diligently fulfilled his obligations under the Code of Conduct and the allegations had regrettably cast a shadow over the entire Council.
