Livingstone councillor Andrea Friend found guilty of inappropriate conduct

Another Livingstone Shire Council councillor was referred to the independent watchdog and has been found guilty of making inappropriate and disrespectful comments in an email. Find out what the punishment was.

A Livingstone Shire councillor has been reprimanded for “making disrespectful and inappropriate comments” to a council employee in an email.

Councillor Andrea Friend is serving her first term after she was elected in the March 2020 election.

A complaint regarding Ms Friend was lodged on November 5, 2021, with the Office of the independent Assessor (OIA), that investigates and assesses complaints about councillor conduct.

It was submitted that Ms Friend made “disrespectful and inappropriate comments to a council employee via email”.

The matter was referred back to Livingstone Shire Council to handle and a decision was handed down on January 11, 2021.

It was found the complaint of inappropriate conduct was sustained as Ms Friend breached section 150K (1)(a) of the Local Government Act 2009 and the Council’s Councillor Code of Conduct for Councillors in Queensland – Standards of Behaviour.

Ms Friend was ordered to attend scheduled training on “de-escalating aggressive and hostile language” and attend a 1:1 coaching session with the mayor to address her conduct.

Livingstone Shire Council was contacted for comment on the matter and asked to disclose any further details on the email.

The council provided the following statement.

“No further information will be provided in addition to what is publicly available on council’s website. The matter has been dealt with by the Office of the Independent Assessor, and council has carried out the recommendations from the investigation.”

Livingstone Shire Council Councillor Glenda Mathers

Long-serving councillor Glenda Mather was also found guilty of inappropriate conduct in late 2021.

A complaint was lodged to the OIA on May 10, 2021, and a decision was handed down by Livingstone Shire Council on November 11, 2021.

The complaint stated Ms Mather made “disrespectful and unfair comments about council staff to a constituent via email”.

It was found this action breached section 150K (1)(a) of the Local Government Act 2009 and the Council’s Councillor Code of Conduct for Councillors in Queensland – Standards of Behaviour.

Ms Mather was “reprimanded for the inappropriate conduct and was reminded of expectations in relation to the councillor‘s responsibilities as elected representatives under the Councillor Code of Conduct”.

A complaint was dismissed on January 4, 2022, against Ms Mather.

It was alleged in a complaint lodged on October 2, 2020, Ms Mather had engaged in misconduct in her dealings with council staff and in making public statements.

OIA decided to take no further against her on the basis “following an investigation of the allegations, taking any further action would be an unjustifiable use of resources”.

Ms Mather was first elected as a councillor for Livingstone Shire Council in 1988 and served until 2000, came back again in 2004, served in the Rockhampton Regional Council amalgamation in 2008 and in 2012 returned back to Livingstone.

Councillors Belot, Eastwood and Mather were found guilty of misconduct in November and October 2021 for attending a meeting with a private developer on a property that was subject to a live development application.

Mr Belot and Ms Mather are appealing their charges in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal and are awaiting the result.

Mr Eastwood was ordered to apologise at a public meeting which he did so at a special meeting on January 7 and to attend local government principle training.

Mayor Andy Ireland was dismissed from two separate complaints in December 2021.

Keppel MP Brittany Lauga.

A complaint was submitted by Keppel MP Brittany Lauga on November 22, claiming Mr Ireland failed to declare a conflict of interest in relation to a matter before council at a recent meeting.

This was in relation to his family owning a local cafe.

The OIA dismissed this matter pursuant to section 150X (c)(i) of the Local Government Act 2009 (the Act) on the basis that further dealing with the complaint would not be in the public interest.

Mr Ireland had raised the potential conflict of interest to full council at a formal meeting immediately before the meeting and obtained legal advice on whether he had a conflict of interest, which advice the councillor acted on in good faith.

Livingstone mayor Andy Ireland. PIC: Contributed

The other complaint against Mr Ireland was made on November 23, claiming he brought the“council into disrepute by making comments during a recent council meeting against the COVID-19 vaccination and state government mandates”.

This was dismissed by OIA and it declared he was “exercising the duties of an elected member, debating important issues in the public interest and representing feedback from members of the community”.

Deputy Mayor Adam Belot.

A complaint against Councillor Adam Belot was dismissed in December 2021. It was alleged he did not disclose he shared a link to a petition on his councillor Facebook page and encouraged others to sign.

It was noted Mr Belot had declared a conflict of interest on the basis he had supported the petition, and was not present during the consideration and decision of the relevant agenda item.

At the next Ordinary Council Meeting Mr Belot admitted he had made an omission and voluntarily made an apology to council inaccurately answering the question about promoting and sharing the petition.

Rockhampton Regional Council councillor conduct register only notes three complaints for 2021 which were all dismissed and do not name the councillors.

Former Rockhampton Region Mayor Margaret Strelow.

Former mayor Margaret Strelow stood down from her role in November 2020 after she was found guilty of misconduct for failing to update her register of interests to include a hospitality benefit from Adani.

Ms Strelow at the time argued the complaint as the hospitality benefit was registered, it was just on different paperwork.

She was ordered to apologise, undertake training and update her register.

She chose to resign of her own volition.