Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding, councillor Paul Tully clash over potential conflict of interest in Urban Utilities appointments

The issue was raised by the LNP mayor about the Labor stalwart and party lines were evident when voting on the appointment of board members for Urban Utilities.

LNP Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding and Labor councillor Paul Tully.

IPSWICH Mayor Teresa Harding moved to have veteran councillor Paul Tully removed from the room to discuss and vote on endorsing members of the Urban Utilities board, believing him to have a declarable conflict of interest related to his relationship with a serving member.

Her fellow councillors did not agree and voted against her motion to boot Cr Tully while the matters were again discussed at the recent Growth, Infrastructure and Waste Committee meeting.

Party lines were evident as votes were cast on one controversial decision but two appointments had already been made by other councils and were out of Ipswich councillors’ hands.

Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding.

In last month’s ordinary council meeting, councillors were tasked with making a decision on endorsing the reappointment and appointment of four serving and prospective board members of the water body, of which Ipswich City Council has a 12 per cent stake.

Discussions revolved around the departure from the board of Goodna resident and mechanical engineer Dr Bruce Leslie, who was the first Ipswich-based appointment in 2018.

Dr Leslie, who established the Goodna Technology Park, will finish up in the role on June 30.

This means nobody from Ipswich will sit on the board going forward.

“In my view he's had an exemplary term of office during the past three years,” Cr Tully said.

“I think as a city we should recognise the contribution that Dr Leslie has made during that time.

“I think he is eminently qualified. One of the most eminently qualified members to be on the board either previously or now.

“I think as a city council we don’t want to lose that sort of knowledge and experience and it’s quite unusual for people who have been appointed to the board not to be offered a second term.”

There was some confusion over the correspondence between Urban Utilities and the council leading up the nominations for the board.

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Acting CEO Sonia Cooper said a letter received in November from Urban Utilities chair Bronwyn Morris stated she “strongly recommended” the reappointment of Dr Leslie.

“It’s my understanding … that during the process Brisbane City Council may not have supported the reappointment of Bruce Leslie,” Ms Cooper said.

Former LNP Brisbane councillor Amanda Cooper will take one of the board positions following Dr Leslie’s departure, something Ipswich Labor councillor Jacob Madsen took exception to.

The LNP-controlled Brisbane City Council has 85 per cent of voting rights and needs to give the green light alongside 50 per cent of the minority rural councils to get an appointment over the line.

“I just don’t think it’s right and reasonable for them to just use their power bluntly like that,” he said.

Cr Harding said it was “very disappointing” that no one from Ipswich would be on the board from the middle of the year.

“I know Dr Leslie is a good Goodna man, he tells me he is very good friends with you Cr Tully,” she said.

“He has fought valiantly to get part of that (water) price harmonisation we just recently got.”

But Cr Harding did not put forward any nominations for potential local board members in response to an email from Urban Utilities received on March 30.

“I did not put any names forward,” she said.

“Perhaps it was an opportunity lost.”

Veteran Ipswich councillor Paul Tully.

The matters were moved to the committee meeting on June 10 to give councillors more time for consideration.

It was at this meeting that Cr Harding moved a motion to have Cr Tully removed from the room due to his connection to Dr Leslie.

Dr Leslie donated more than $6200 to Cr Tully for his unsuccessful by-election campaign to become mayor in 2017.

“Based on the statements made by Cr Tully (at the May ordinary meeting), I believe there is a conflict between Cr Tully’s personal interest or the personal interests of a related party of Cr Tully and the public interest and that because of the conflict Cr Tully participating in a decision about the matter might lead to a decision that is contrary to the public interest,” Cr Harding said.

(The Local Government Act) does leave it up to councillors to make that decision (whether he needs to leave the room).

“It isn’t always black and white. In the end you’ll be held accountable.”

Other members of the committee did not support the move by the mayor, with most citing the fact that the reappointment of Dr Leslie was not under consideration in the latest round of discussions.

“The report doesn’t have any reference to Mr Leslie,” Cr Tully said.

“I don’t believe I’ve got a conflict in a personal sense.

“The comments that I made previously were in relation to a person who hasn’t been appointed. He hasn’t been appointed to the board.

“We weren’t discussing his appointment.”

Then it was on to business at hand; but half of the decisions had already been made.

Brisbane City Council and Lockyer Valley, Scenic Rim and Somerset regional councils have already endorsed the appointment and reappointment of Ms Cooper and Julie-Anne Schafer respectively.

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Ipswich City Council was the first of the five to consider the appointment of Lucia Cade and reappointment of Kathy Hirschfeld.

Council officer Greg Thomas was asked whether the normal procedure for appointing board members had been followed this time around.

“This was followed, however, I would suggest to you that the protocols agreed previously seem to be somewhat diluted in terms of the communications back with council,” he said.

Cr Harding said a usual shareholder meeting involving mayors and the chair of Urban Utilities concerning board appointments wasn’t held.

Motions to support the reappointments of Ms Schafer and Ms Hirschfeld and appointment of Ms Cade passed.

When it came to support for Ms Cooper, Sheila Ireland voted against the motion and Division 3 Councillor Marnie Doyle, Cr Tully and Cr Madsen all abstained from voting.

So it came down to LNP’s Cr Harding to cast the deciding vote after councillors Nicole Jonic, Andrew Fechner and Russell Milligan voting in support resulted in a stalemate.

Cr Doyle abstained from voting for all appointment matters.

Dr Bruce Leslie (left) will finish up in his role as an Urban Utilities board member this month.

The council will now write to Urban Utilities to voice its “disappointment” about the process.

“We request we are engaged more proactively and the participation agreement is followed more accurately,” Cr Harding said.

“Given what’s transpired over the last several weeks and months, I’m very displeased about the entire process,” Cr Doyle said.

“The co-operation agreement has not been followed and certainly out of respect for Ipswich and Ipswich ratepayers and this council, I’d like to see that be their first priority and engaging with us going forward.”

Labor councillors Cr Tully and Cr Madsen abstained from voting in relation to sending the letter, although Cr Tully said he agreed with the “sentiment” of it.

“Board members are required to be appointed and reappointed by a special majority vote of shareholders, which includes our major shareholder Brisbane City Council plus at least two other shareholding councils,” an Urban Utilities spokeswoman said.

“The Urban Utilities board chair consulted with all shareholding councils regarding the recent nominations and followed up with correspondence prior to councils formally considering these appointments.

“Board members reside across southeast Queensland and Australia.

“They are nominated based on the experience and skill set they bring to the role and independently represent all the communities we serve.

“All shareholding councils had an opportunity to put forward potential nominations for the Urban Utilities board for the most recent process.”

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