Port Pirie Mayor John Rohde found guilty of misconduct, maladministration over trips to Philippines where he met up with online girlfriend
A REGIONAL mayor who met up with his online girlfriend during ratepayer-funded overseas trip to the Philippines has been found guilty of maladministration and misconduct, in a scathing report by the State Ombudsman.
How The Advertiser reported the story
- The mayor, his online lover and two ratepayer-funded foreign trips
- Lawyer told mayor disclosing trip would bring ‘unnecessary scrutiny’
- Port Pirie defends trade missions to the Philippines
A REGIONAL mayor who met his online girlfriend during ratepayer-funded overseas trips has been found guilty of maladministration and misconduct, in a scathing report by the State Ombudsman.
The Advertiser revealed in January that Port Pirie mayor John Rohde flew to the Philippines in 2016.
During the first trip in April 2016, the leader of one of the state’s biggest councils met a woman with whom he had established an online relationship months earlier.
In a damning report published Monday, State Ombudsman Wayne Lines criticised Mr Rohde’s conduct, which was “at the higher end of the scale”.
His eight-month investigation, triggered by a referral from Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Bruce Lander QC, included an inquiry into The Advertiser’s confidential sources on the story.
While he said Mr Rohde, did not need to repay any money, he urged his council to formally reprimand him. The two trade missions, in April and May 2016 cost ratepayers $4440.
Mr Rohde is seeking re-election at this weekend’s local government elections for the $51,200 a year position.
In his report, Mr Lines found the mayor guilty of both maladministration — irregular and unauthorised use of public money or substantial mismanagement — as well as misconduct in public administration.
He was “greatly troubled” by the mayor’s travel to the Asian nation “at council expense mere months after his forming a relationship through an online dating platform” with a woman named Bita,46,in a trip influenced by “personal, rather than public, interests”.
Rejecting his claims the pair were then only “friends”, Mr Lines condemned his failures to disclose the trip to council, was “troubled” by the lack of formal documents, and critical of the “inappropriate” travel with no proper business plan to an area not considered for a trade deal.
“In my view, it strains credulity, owing if nothing else to the circumstances of the first encounter, that the parties maintained nothing further than a ‘friendship’ during the period relevant to my investigation,” he found.
“Having carefully weighed the evidence, I consider it considerably more likely than not that there existed a romantic aspect to the relationship at the time of (the) first visit.
“(His) omission to declare his relationship with Bita at the time he raised the possibility of his participating in the trade mission was, in my view, highly inappropriate.”
The Advertiser declined to provide any information to Mr Lines, who could not conclusively find who had leaked the details.
Mr Lines separately found Councillor Kendall Jackson guilty of misconduct after she sent “confidential” information to an external party.
Both denied to Mr Lines being the paper’s source.
Mr Rohde had claimed he “genuinely believed” the spending was authorised by then council boss Dr Andrew Johnson and denied any romantic involvement on the trips — claims the Ombudsman said Bita challenged as “lies” when interviewed by investigators.
Ms Jackson described the leak inquiry as “disgraceful”.
The mayor did not return calls while a State Government spokesman declined to comment.
Facing jail for doing my job
By Andrew Hough
FOR the past eight months, I have suffered in silence while being the subject of a secret ICAC-style investigation that tried to identify my confidential sources on a story you had a right to know about. Why?
Because I faced the very real prospect of being jailed, or paying a big fine, for doing my job and declining to co-operate with Ombudsman Wayne Lines.
Mr Lines wrote to me in March wanting to know what, how and when I was leaked confidential Port Pirie Council documents that revealed highly questionable conduct of its Mayor John Rohde.
I could only tell my distressed wife and I needed special permission to inform my editor and his boss.
Last week Mr Lines told me I would not face further action and Monday’s report failed to prove the leaker. Those he named denied being my source.
But Cr Kendall Jackson, criticised for passing “confidential” information to a third party, summed it up perfectly: “It is concerning that money has been spent on this investigation … (and) witch hunt, for what outcome?”
Indeed. I will continue writing stories of public interest and will never reveal a source, no matter the cost.
