Division 5 Councillor Greg Barnes speaks out about audit

A popular councillor has claimed an internal audit was ordered on his council email account after he opposed a high-rise development at Bargara.

The CCC has “declined to comment” about the outcome of Council’s handling into the Bargara Jewel high-rise development.

The NewsMail asked the question after a councillor claimed opposing the Bargara Jewel high-rise could be behind an investigation that’s haunted him for more than a year.

Division 5 Councillor Greg Barnes has taken to social media to claim an investigation by the Office of the Independent Assessor (OIA) into his email account was recently dismissed.

Mr Barnes said a complaint was made to the OIA on May 7, 2021 following a “selective internal audit” of his council email account.

He claims his account was the “only one” selected for an audit out of more than 800 staff members and elected representatives within Council.

Division 5 Councillor Greg Barnes claims his account was the “only one” selected for an audit out of more than 800 staff members and elected representatives within Council. Photo: Max Fleet / NewsMail

The complaint alleged that during 2021, seven Facebook groups were identified as being his.

One of those was Bargara Remembers which was listed on his Register of Interests and is relevant to his division.

Bargara Remembers Inc. is the committee that conducts Bargara’s annual ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day commemoration events.

“I have been it’s Initiator and President for the past 26 years, albeit under different titles,” Mr Barnes said of the group.

The investigation also looked at whether council resources had allegedly been used by Mr Barnes to administer another six Facebook Groups including Elliott Heads Facebookers and Innes Park & Coral Cove Facebookers sites.

“It was estimated for the year 2021, there were approximately 1000 join requests that had been received in relation to the above Facebook Groups of which I was listed as an administrator for some of these groups,” he said.

“In short, the complaint was based on the fact that I had inappropriately used council resources to communicate with the community including those beyond my division.

“The complaint did not refer to any particular comment or post by me as being inappropriate but solely on the fact that I had used a council resource to approve member requests and communicate with local residents.”

Greg Barnes was investigated for allegedly using Council resources for administrator duties for a number of Facebook pages relating to his electorate.

Mr Barnes argued his position as a Bundaberg councillor meant it was vital to connect with members of the community via social media.

“In my response to the complaint, I submitted that, in my role as community representative, it was vital, in this day and age, to use and encourage the use of moderated social media to communicate efficiently with the residents of the region and respond as quickly as possible to the concerns that they have regarding community and Council-related issues,” he wrote

“I further submitted that any community representative across the globe should be thankful of such a medium through which to connect to their community.”

The investigation was then dismissed by the OIA.

“It appears that common sense has prevailed and I’m grateful that the OIA came to a commonsense conclusion,” he said.

Mr Barnes claims he has been subject to a number of OIA investigations over the past five years, which he says has impacted greatly on his health and that of his family.

“Nonetheless, each and every one of some 30 vexatious complaints that have been lodged over a five-year period, have come at an emotional and financial (legal advice) cost for not only me, but also Issy and the damage to our health, in more ways than one, have taken their toll,” he said.

“Perhaps coincidentally, this campaign of complaints against me commenced shortly after my opposition to a non-compliant ‘high-rise’ Development Application on Bargara’s foreshore in 2018.”

JEWEL BARGARA: Artists impressions of the once proposed high rise on the Bargara esplanade which was planned for the semi-vacant lot at 35 Esplanade, Bargara.

The Bargara Jewel was a proposed high-rise on Bargara’s popular foreshore, which was met with concerns from local residents.

The development was shrouded in controversy after the council’s handling of the application was referred to the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) in 2018, but the CCC have declined to comment on the outcome of that investigation.

In 2019, the development was called in by Planning Minister, Cameron Dick who had questions about Bundaberg Regional Council’s handling of the project.

The high-rise was to be implemented on the parcel of land at 35 Esplanade Bargara, as well the land where a residential property currently sits at 39 Esplanade Bargara.

The development didn’t go ahead as planned, and instead, the old house at 35 Esplanade was renovated and converted into an AirBnB which is currently managed by Remax’s Scott Mackey.

Mr Barnes said he had listened to the community who mostly didn’t want the development to go ahead due to the scale of the development and environmental impacts.

He said the investigation into his accounts was “nonsense”.

“[It comes] a cost to taxpayers who have to foot the bill for investigations resulting from an OIA triage system which I have to say, appears to be selective in its nature and at a time when they‘re crying poor to the State Government over a lack of resources,” he said.

REMAX real estate agent Scott Mackey all smiles with developer Sheng Wei (centre) after the nine-storey Jewel application was given the green light in 2018 before being called in by Planning Minister Cameron Dick.

“For the record and, by all means call me old-fashioned, but my professional integrity means everything to me and I have no intention of bowing down to bullying, intimidation or retribution tactics, irrespective of the source or their contacts in high places.”

Former Fraser Coast Councillor Stuart Taylor weighed in on the investigation in the comments of Mr Barnes’ post, with a comment underneath which hinted Bundaberg Regional Council CEO, Steve Johnston could have been involved.

“Will the CEO now release details of how many email accounts were captured in this audit in the interest of transparency? It is concerning that similar 'audits' were conducted when this CEO was temporarily filling in on the Fraser Coast. How deep was the probe into your email account? Was it an independent review or did a staff member troll through your emails? This can't be the standard practice,” Mr Taylor’s comment read.

“This is an important issue, because if a member of the public wants to raise a concern to a Councillor about council staff or management (which happens regularly), what confidence can they have that it is not being read by the very people the complaint is being levelled against? Greg this is an example of the diminishing authority of the elected body and the autocratic power of the executive.

“As they say, “if it feels like s***, smells like s*** and tastes like s***. It must be s***”.

The NewsMail asked Bundaberg Council CEO Steve Johnston to comment on the allegation, but he refused.

“Mr Taylor is a former councillor at Fraser Coast Council,” Mr Johnston said.

“I was a State Government appointed adviser at that Council for a short period in 2016 when he was on Council and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment.”

Mr Taylor was also approached for comment but a response had not been received at the time of publishing.