Former council candidate lodges more than $160,000 worth of FOI requests with Charles Sturt Council

A man who lodged more than $160,000 worth of Freedom of Information requests with an Adelaide council — and multiple failed complaints against councillors — has been lashed by the Ombudsman for “abuse” of the FOI system.

More than $160,000 has been spent by Charles Sturt Council responding to Freedom of Information requests from one man — who has been lambasted by the Ombudsman for his “abuse” of the system.

Carlo Meschino, of Albert Park, has lodged 31 FOI requests since 2014 relating to himself, council elections, the elected member code of conduct, staff complaints and also a business.

It totalled about 7000 pages worth of documents and 2200 hours of work from council staff.

The council has now refused to accept any more requests from Mr Meschino unless he can prove why it is necessary.

A report provided to councillors last week said many of the requests related to documents Mr Meschino had already been provided — or had sent himself.

Carlo Meschino, who has lodged more than $160,000 worth of FOI requests with Charles Sturt Council.

One 3075-page request was calculated to have taken up $29,000 and 387 hours.

He had also lodged 15 code of conduct complaints against elected members — many of them relating to Cr Tolley Wasylenko, against whom he ran at the November council election — and Charles Sturt chief executive Paul Sutton.

In his campaign material, Mr Meschino noted the code of conduct complaints against Mr Wasylenko — but failed to reveal that he had lodged them.

Another five complaints were made under Section 270 of the Local Government Act, which relates to improper decisions made by councils.

All the complaints were found to be invalid.

The council last year refused to respond to an FOI request Mr Meschino had lodged for electronic communication such as emails and texts relating to himself, following which he requested a review from the Ombusdman.

But Ombudsman Wayne Lines condemned Mr Meschino’s request as an “abuse” of the FOI system that formed part of a “clear pattern of conduct”.

South Australian Ombudsman Wayne Lines. Photo: Tait Schmaal

“The applicant’s applications are broad (and) vague as to which specific documents the applicant is seeking,” Mr Lines wrote in his report.

“The subject matter of these applications often overlaps and is repeated across multiple applications.

“I consider that it was reasonable for the (council) to form its opinion that the application was part of a pattern of conduct that amounted to an abuse of process.”

Cr Tolley Wasylenko.

Cr Wasylenko said the system had “failed the community” in protecting its rates.

“Everyone has their right to democracy and challenging and finding out corruption, but I’m just concerned the continued challenges haven’t produced an outcome and you have to start questioning the motive,” he said.

“There is something wrong with the law and someone has to step up and do something about it once and for all.”

Mr Meschino did not respond to multiple calls for comment.

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