These reports are normally bone dry, but this was dripping with tea spilt right across 180-odd pages of shocking revelations about the conduct of council, saying it could “no longer effectively carry out its responsibilities”.
It’s hard to know where to begin; from the report saying it believed the murder of a member of council staff could have been avoided if the workplace was less toxic to the illegal movement of asbestos, for which council has been referred to IBAC.
It said council was rife with bullying, “which broke most men” at its Numurkah depot, and spoke about a culture of launching false allegations against staff members certain superiors didn’t like or didn’t agree with.
The report has also been scathing about projects in Yarrawonga, the council chief executive and more — it’s a gripping read, which is not something I say often about these sorts of documents.
Council has been sacked and an administrator appointed.
However, what baffled me most was council coming out on the front foot just after the report dropped.
Council released a statement from chief executive Clare Keenan just after the release of the report — which, remember, was scathing about bullying and the culture at council — saying the focus of the organisation was on the health of those impacted by the report.
“Our priority continues to be the wellbeing of staff, and we have implemented measures to ensure they have support,” Ms Keenan said.
“At this stage, council will review the findings and seek relevant advice before making any further comment.”
I expected that to mean council was about to put the head down and avoid as much of the barrage to come as possible.
Evidently not.
A few days later, outgoing Moira Shire Mayor Peter Lawless said he was “proud of what we’ve achieved as a council”.
Days after such a damning report, which laid blame on council for putting the health of its employees at risk in multiple different ways, seemed like a strange time to put that statement out.
Mr Lawless contested the accuracy of some parts of the report, which helps explain some of his statement, but it was still a bizarre time for such a positive sentiment, considering how damning every page of the report was.
It felt strange to read the head of council say “I truly believe our organisation is heading in the right direction” days after it was dismissed because it had been sliding in the wrong direction for years, according to Victorian Local Government Minister Melissa Horne.
Likewise, a statement from a “council spokesperson” — sent by council’s media team — felt incredibly out of touch.
“We would like to extend our gratitude to the councillors for their service to the shire and their dedication to representing our community,” the statement read.
I feel like no-one who has read the report would think pride and gratitude would be what council staff or ratepayers were feeling.
