State Ombudsman investigating Onkaparinga Council’s credit card spending

UPDATED: THE state’s public sector watchdog has been secretly investigating Onkaparinga Council’s lavish credit card spending since last September.

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THE state’s public sector watchdog has been secretly investigating Onkaparinga Council’s lavish credit card spending since last September.

SA Ombudsman Wayne Lines on Tuesday said it was now in the public interest to reveal he was conducting a probe into the matter.

The council, which dumped its own inquiry last week, was told about the Ombudsman’s investigation in February.

Mr Lines said the matter was referred to him by the independent Commissioner against Corruption in September 2017.

“My investigations are confidential and conducted in private,” Mr Lines wrote in a statement.

“However, having regard to the community’s interest in the corporate credit card expenditure of the City of Onkaparinga, I consider that it is in the public interest to confirm I am investigating the matter.

Onkaparinga Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg at her Willunga Hill farm. Picture Matt Turner

“At the conclusion of my investigation, I will give consideration as to whether it is in the public interest to publish my report.”

Onkaparinga chief executive Mark Dowd said he told councillors about the Ombudsman’s inquiry via a confidential email on February 27, a week after the council decided to conduct its own independent inquiry.

“The Ombudsman’s authorisation made it clear this information could only be provided to elected members and could not be made public,” Mr Dowd said on Tuesday.

“It is clear that the Ombudsman is conducting the same inquiries which would be undertaken as part of an independent inquiry called for by the resolution of the council.”

Mr Dowd, right, said the council would not comment further until the Ombudsman completed his investigation.

At a meeting last week, elected members scrapped its own independent inquiry into the council’s credit card spending, which included thousands of dollars in Apple products, flowers and overnight accommodation in city hotels.

Mr Dowd told that meeting the Auditor-General had already examined the council’s credit card expenditure as part of a statewide investigation into local government credit card spending. He said based on the information the council had provided, the Auditor-General “deemed” there was “no requirement for further investigation” at the time.

However, the Auditor-General’s Department said it had “not notified the Onkaparinga Council about conducting more detailed testing or provided further details of the examination”.

On Friday, Cr Don Chapman called for Mr Dowd’s resignation “as a matter of urgency”, accusing him of misleading elected members into thinking the Auditor-General had completed his review.

Mr Dowd has denied misleading councillors.

Local Government Minister Stephan Knoll did not respond to calls from The Advertiser in regards to the Ombudsman’s investigation.