Two Mount Isa councillors have told a parliamentary hearing the complaints process to the Office of the Independent Assessor has been "hijacked by political enemies" of councillors.
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Deputy mayor Phil Barwick and Cr Mick Tully gave evidence to the inquiry hearing in Mount Isa into the OIA, an office created in 2018 after the Crime and Conduct Commission's Belcarra inquiry.
Under its terms councillors faced strict integrity rules which included a new code of conduct for local government members and a new definition of misconduct.
The laws created new criminal offences, mandated reporting requirements for councillors and procedural fairness requirements.
However Cr Barwick told the parliamentary hearing in Mount Isa on Wednesday that nearly all complaints were vexatious.
"These complaints are politically driven by enemies of councillors," Cr Barwick said.
"They are not about conduct but about public humiliation and staining the reputation of the councillors.
Cr Barwick said this was purely a political strategy and the OIA processes had been drawn into it.
"The OIA has been hijacked by political opponents of councillors," he said.
"The respect for the office is not there."
Like fellow councillor Kim Coghlan who gave evidence later, Cr Barwick said it created a bad situation and made councillors fearful.
"It's onerous, demanding and affects the mental health of councillors," he said.
"We need this shroud of harassment lifted from council. It's constant, reverberating and creates a bad situation."
He also said Mount Isa City Council had spent $200,000 on allegations none of which had been substantiated.
Cr Tully said the LGAQ should have supported the Mount Isa City Council motion to charge a $200 fee to make a complaint and said people should put their names to complaints.
Cr Barwick agreed saying if they weren't anonymous, "it would stop a lot of garbage."
When asked about whether training might help with integrity issues, Cr Tully said he didn't think so.
"You can't teach integrity, you've either got it or you haven't got it," he said.
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