Adelaide councillor Anne Moran says councillors need more protection under code of conduct investigations
OUTSPOKEN city councillor Anne Moran has defended her Burnside colleague Lance Bagster, saying more protection is needed for councillors under the code of conduct process.
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OUTSPOKEN city councillor Anne Moran has defended Burnside councillor Lance Bagster, speaking of how “frightened” she was, when she was the subject of an investigation at the Adelaide City Council.
Ms Moran has advocated for changes to better protect councillors during the code of conduct process since 2002, when Jay Weatherill was the local government minister.
She was involved in a perceived misconduct investigation more than a decade ago that took six months to resolve.
“(It’s a) really dangerous situation,” she said.
“Innocent or guilty … there’s nothing, absolutely nothing you can do about it.”
Ms Moran said during her investigation, she asked for support but it was declined.
Ms Moran told The Advertiser that she was followed, her office was searched and she was “aggressively interviewed” until an independent QC reported she was not in the wrong for questioning the use of a $45,000 discretionary sum.
“I felt frightened,” she said.
“We had young teenage children and that’s the first time I thought: ‘this may not be worth it’.
“I would tell any young man or woman, do not run for local government. If you really want to make a difference and want to rattle the cage, this is what they can do to you.”
Ms Moran said Burnside councillor Mr Bagster had clearly fallen out with council administration — after The Advertiser reported an independent human resources consultant was brought in to mediate the ongoing feud — but the code of conduct process had “no safety net”.
“The system should always protect the individual against the group. Until it happens, you think there must be somebody that’s going to help me.”
She said the LGA needs to look after their members.
“Even if he has done the wrong thing, he’s still a democratically elected member of council and still needs support,” she said.
“Frank and fearless should be encouraged, especially in a council like Burnside.”
Mayor David Parkin said earlier this month that he maintained “full confidence” in the council administration “which continue to be strongly supported by the Burnside community”.