Mid-Western Regional Councillor Russell Holden has defended council's decision to release an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) report into an investigation into Mid-Western Regional Council through a formal application process, rather than immediately releasing the findings to the public.
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In a closed meeting last Wednesday, council voted to make the ICAC Investigation Report available for public access under the guidelines provided by the Access to Information Policy and the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.
Cr Holden, who moved the motion, said the decision followed a lengthy debate within council and consideration of legal advice to council.
Unless the report was released through the correct channels, council could be exposed to potential legal action, he said.
Cr Holden has questioned why the report was not released by the ICAC or by the Minister for Local Government, Paul Toole, instead of leaving the decision in Mid-Western Regional Council’s hands.
Earlier in the meeting, Cr Peter Shelley had moved that the findings of the ICAC report be released immediately to the public.
However, Cr Holden said that he did not vote against this motion, as was reported in the Mudgee Guardian last Friday, because the motion was never put to council.
Instead, Cr Holden put forward his amendment, which was adopted and became the motion.
Cr Holden said he did not support the immediate release of the findings because they needed to be considered in the context of the 96-page ICAC report.
ICAC’s “Operation Farrar” did not find that any person affected by the two-and-a-half-year investigation engaged in corrupt conduct.
Members of the public can apply to the Mid-Western Regional Council for a copy of the report, using an application form available HERE.
