Councillor opposes financial report over lack of detail on $76m Aquatic Centre

A request for detailed costings on “the largest project ever undertaken” by the Bundaberg council has continued to cause division in the local chambers. LATEST.

Questions about detailed financial reporting of the $76m Bundaberg Aquatic Centre continue to dog Mayor Jack Dempsey.

A Bundaberg councillor has warned his colleagues he cannot in “good faith” sign off on the next stage of a landmark project until the finer details are laid bare.

Financial reporting of the $76million Bundaberg Aquatic Centre was again a point of contention in Tuesday’s council meeting, amid ongoing concerns over transparency and public accountability.

Councillor Greg Barnes opposed the motion to pass the June Financial Summary because he said he had not received detailed financial reports for the massive pool project.

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“I’ve given this a lot of consideration, and in line with my comments at the budget meeting, because I haven’t been provided with the financial information that I’ve previously sought, I cannot support the motion,” Mr Barnes said.

In June, Mr Barnes claimed the council’s CEO Steve Johnston had denied his request for detailed costings for the aquatic centre, which led him to vote against the 2023-24 budget in the Special Budget Meeting on June 27.

Councillor Greg Barnes said chief executive Steve Johnston had denied his request for detailed costings for the Aquatic Centre, without which he couldn't "in good faith" support council's financial reports.

Mayor Jack Dempsey, after saying he encourages “every councillor … to be able to have the openness to be able to ask questions”, attempted to tie Mr Barnes’ opposition to the 2023-24 budget to a vote against the doubling of the pensioner rebate introduced with that budget.

“I just want to clarify that … you voted against the budget, you voted against the pension rebate, … and now because of these financial statements that have been provided well before this meeting – is that correct?” Mr Dempsey asked.

In response, Mr Barnes said he couldn’t “in good faith” support the motion without details he’d asked for.

“Before this meeting I’ve asked for details of the expenditure of the largest project ever undertaken in this region,” Mr Barnes said.

“And I’ve been denied that information. On that basis, I can’t in good faith continue to support financial reports until I have all the information that I’ve asked for.”

Prompted by Mr Johnston, Councillor Steve Cooper pointed out that the tabled financial report included a graph showing the total expenditure for the aquatic centre and said discussion of detailed costings had taken place in previous briefing meetings.

Financial reports tabled in the council meeting show $24.4m in capital expenditure was spent on the Bundaberg Aquatic Centre in 2022-23. Source: Bundaberg Regional Council

The graph referred to by Mr Cooper shows $24.4m in capital expenditure was spent on the Bundaberg Aquatic Centre in 2022-23.

Elsewhere the report shows the council has loans for the aquatic centre totalling $32.1m as of June 2023, paid down from $32.4m in April.

The project accounts for 35 per cent of the council’s total loans portfolio.

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The NewsMail asked the Office of the Information Commissioner to review an RTI request for line items, feasibility reports and cost breakdowns for the project after the council requested three extensions based on claims it had been “unable to finalise (a) decision” by the deadline.

In a statement following the June Special Budget Meeting, Mr Cooper said detailed costings of the project were available only to those within the “confines” of council, which did not have the resources to respond to ratepayer requests for costings.