Central Coast Council Public Inquiry hearing: Suspended Mayor Lisa Matthews gives evidence

Suspended Mayor Lisa Matthews has given evidence to Central Coast Council’s Public Inquiry, delving into issues such as staffing, finances and her opinion on the downfall.

Suspended Central Coast Mayor Lisa Matthews has given her evidence at the Public Inquiry into the embattled council’s crisis.

While the Inquiry was adjourned on Tuesday due to technical issues with the livestream, Cr Matthews gave her evidence on Monday with a transcript published online.

The Inquiry into the disaster, which resulted in an accumulated debt of $565m, will hear from 50 witnesses during the three-week hearing with more than 100 submissions received from former and current staff, suspended councillors and members of the community.

Cr Matthews told the Inquiry that she chose not to make a submission for personal reasons.

“It’s been a really tough time for me personally,” she said. “It has had an affect on my mental health.”

Central Coast suspended Mayor Lisa Matthews revealed the situation had taken a personal toll. Picture: Sue Graham

Cr Matthews, who was initially elected to the former Wyong Council in 2008, was questioned about the costs of the merger between the former Gosford and Wyong councils, IT systems and staff numbers.

She said there was movement in staff numbers at the time of merger however whenever she asked she was told “that’s operational”.

When asked if the councils had enough money to fund the merger she replied “no way”.

“There was no way that the money that the council got was ever going to fill the hole of merging the two councils,” she told the Inquiry.

When the newly elected Central Coast councillors came on board in 2017 Cr Matthews said there was little handover. She also clearly stated that while she had basic financial knowledge she was not an accountant and heavily relied on council staff for guidance in those matters.

The Merger of the two councils was a recurring topic in questioning. Picture: Sue Graham

She said she was also advised to only speak with the chief executive officer (CEO) or the executive leadership team (ELT) and no staff below those roles.

“So unless you are the fly on the wall, you don’t really know what’s happening,” she said.

“I mean, you hear Chinese whispers, of course … it was very clearly spelt out to me – you’re not to speak to the staff.”

Cr Matthews described the finance section of the council as a “revolving door” with new staff coming and going.

“We seemed to not be able to hold on to a CFO (chief financial officer). That worried me. Like, why would a CFO keep leaving?”

When questioned about former CEO Gary Murphy she said her only concern was he had a soft style and needed to be able to “crack the whip” when needed. She said she believed his staff let him down.

Suspended mayor Lisa Matthews and deputy Mayor Jane Smith are the first two witnesses in the Inquiry. Image taken prior to Covid restrictions.

When asked if there was an attitude among councillors to be obstructive towards merger, she said “no”.

“We went in there as a newly elected merged council. I think we were all on track to make sure that the merger was a success,” she said.

Commissioner Roslyn McCulloch also delved into issues such as the Regional Performing Arts Centre and its various plans, Warnervale Airport contracts and the council’s infrastructure backlog.

She asked Cr Matthews if councillors disregarded financial consequences of their decisions.

“No, I don’t believe that we disregarded that, no,” Cr Matthews said. “I don’t think anybody willingly set out to disregard anything from finances. Unfortunately, I think, what tended to end up happening is the politics got in the way, and the behaviours. I think at times theatricals got in the way when things came up.

“I think by the time I became mayor, I believe the toxic nature … between the councillors was far too – it was too entrenched. We were never going to turn it around.”

She said some of the decisions of the council may have “unintentionally” contributed to the council’s downfall.

Cr Matthews said she became a target during the 2020 floods. Picture: @photoslog

“I don’t think people intentionally went out to create this. I think unintentionally it just ended up morphing into what ended up happening.”

She pointed out being a target during the February 2020 floods as a result of other councillor campaigns against her.

Cr Matthews also revealed that in March 2020 a report into the relationship between the ELT and councillors showed a lack of trust between the two parties.

“It happened in March 2020 and by October, of course, we were gone, and then from March 2020 we had Covid coastal erosion,” she said. “So we got the report, which was great, but we never got an opportunity to deal with some of the issues in that report.

“I believe that this council from the get-go never really worked on the relationships between the councillors and the executive leadership team. It was really an us and them approach and they were guarded, and we were guarded, and that struck me as really odd, because to make a successful council, we all need to be working together and I didn’t feel that we worked together. We were not one team.”

Former Wyong mayor Doug Eaton will represent suspended councillor Greg Nest in the Inquiry. Picture: Troy Snook

Ms McCulloch has allowed for some witnesses to be legally represented during proceedings. Legal representatives for former CEO Gary Murphy and suspended councillor Greg Best and suspended deputy mayor Jane Smith announced themselves on Monday.

Cr Best’s legal representative is former Wyong mayor Doug Eaton who indicated he would like to cross examine Cr Smith. However Ms McCulloch said she may not allow that to happen, depending on Cr Smith’s evidence.

Cr Smith started to give evidence on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning until the technical issues adjourned the hearing.

At the conclusion of the hearings, submissions in reply can be lodged before Ms McCulloch will receive any further documents before tabling her official report to NSW Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock.

Ms Hancock will then make a decision such as dismissal of the council, termination of the councillors’ suspension or appointment of a financial controller.

A future date for the recommencement of the Inquiry will be announced.