Cloncurry Cr Dane Swalling has launched a strong defence of his conduct after the Councillor Conduct Tribunal made an adverse ruling against him.
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On 28 October, 2020 the Councillor Conduct Tribunal made a finding Cr Swalling engaged in misconduct for failing to declare a conflict of interest when voting on the Cloncurry Shire Council's Procurement Policy (Version 4) in an ordinary council meeting on November 28, 2017.
The Councillor Conduct Tribunal ordered Cr Swalling, who had no prior disciplinary history, to make a public admission of misconduct.
The ruling followed an investigation by the Office of the Independent Assessor (OIA) which found Cr Swalling attended an ordinary council meeting in November 2017 that considered amendments to council's procurement policy.
The amended policy included a broader definition of the term local suppliers, and changes to the competitive advantages offered to businesses in this category.
OIA investigators found Cr Swalling voted on the matter and took no steps at the meeting to declare his directorship of Cloncurry Plumbing Pty Ltd, which had supplied services to council between 2004 and 2017, and was classed as a local supplier which was eligible for a competitive advantage.
Councillor Swalling submitted that at the time of the meeting his business was no longer working for council, or bidding on council tenders, and that he had adopted a personal policy of not allowing his business to undertake council work while he was in office.
However, the CCT found that Cr Swalling's business stood to directly benefit from the policy if he decided to again bid for council work, which he could do at any time without making his decision public.
Cr Swalling said he did not accept this decision and was considering available avenues to appeal with his legal team.
"I am a passionate Councillor and a proud local of Cloncurry, where I have lived my whole life. The Cloncurry community is very important to me - this is where I was raised, and I know most members of the community personally," Cr Swalling said,
"I have never acted with any intention to obtain any benefit personally for myself or my business through my role on Council. In its decision, the Tribunal in fact acknowledged that there was no evidence that I had deliberately sought to confound my fellow Councillors or conceal my interest."
Cr Swalling said he had always been open and transparent about the fact he owned a local plumbing business.
"Given the small township of Cloncurry, it was common knowledge to nearly everyone. Unfortunately, this decision was made on very technical points of the law and I do not agree with the decision made," he said,
"I received no benefit by not making the relevant declaration during the meeting in question and there was no detriment suffered by the Cloncurry community by my participation in the vote. I consider that it was a huge waste of taxpayer funds to pursue this case against me which the Independent Assessor referred to as a 'signpost for other councillors when dealing with conflicts of interest in similar circumstances".
"I think that it is important that the public are aware that I have previously been subjected to politically motivated complaints against me to the Office of the Independent Assessor- none of which have been substantiated," he said.
"I feel I have been unfairly targeted and have fought hard each time to clear my name."
Cr Swalling said he had the same allegation of misconduct made against him for failing to declare interest in his business when he voted on the Procurement Policy (Version 3) at Council's Ordinary Council Meeting on 20 December, 2016.
"This complaint was dealt with by the LocalGovernment Regional Conduct Review Panel on essentially the same facts, and it was decided on 7 May, 2018 that the allegation was not sustained," he said.
"The Panel found that I had no greater personal interest in the matter of the Procurement Policy than that of other persons in the local government area. Unfortunately, I was not made aware that I was going to face the Local Government Regional Conduct Review Panel for the first complaint until 7 February, 2018, which was after I had already voted on the Procurement Policy (Version 4) on 28 November, 2017. If I had been made aware that I was going to face the Panel for first allegation against me prior to the meeting on 28 November, 2017, I would have had the opportunity to do things differently to protect myself from any future complaints or criticism."
Cr Swalling said he did not understand why the second complaint was not referred to the Local Government Regional Conduct Review Panel at the same time as the first allegation.
"This has meant that I have had to live with the stress of the investigation process for almost three years and have also had to incur significant legal costs to defend the two investigations against me for essentially the same alleged conduct," he said,
"It is my honest belief that the second investigation was pursued simply because the first allegation was not sustained. In relation to the current decision, I want to make it very clear that I never received any benefit as a result of the Procurement Policy (Version 4). My business had ceased doing any plumbing work for Council on 15 September, 2017 (prior to the meeting on 27 November, 2017) and had made this position clear to Council. In my mind, there was therefore no longer any potential conflict of interest to be declared. I will point out that I had declared my business interests many times prior to this date at Council meetings. There was no obligation on me or my business to cease doing work for Council, however I took this strict approach to protect my good reputation. I did not want any suggestion of bias or a conflict and instead, wanted to make sure that the community knew that I was acting in their best interests. This resulted in a significant loss financially to my business given there are not many plumbing businesses in the region, so I was previously able to secure a fair amount of work on Council jobs. When I voted on the Procurement Policy (Version 4), I truly believed that I was not going to obtain any benefit from the outcome of the vote on the Procurement Policy as I no longer did any plumbing work for Council. However, the Tribunal has decided that I had a conflict of interest deserving of a finding of misconduct because my business would benefit IF I "decided to again bid for council work". During the meeting no one raised any objections to me staying in the room to vote on the Procurement Policy, despite them all being aware that I owned a local plumbing business. I had never tried to hide this fact from anyone and I had previously done plumbing work for almost all of the Councillors personally who were in the room."
Cr Swalling said his register of personal interests correctly disclosed his interest in my business, and it is even mentioned in my biography on the Council website.