Dubbo mayor Ben Shields breached code of conduct: council report

A council in western NSW refused to tell a ratepayer what action was taken after the mayor he complained about was found to have breached a code of conduct.

A Dubbo ratepayer whose complaint helped trigger a code of conduct investigation into mayor Ben Shields had to call on the NSW Office of Local Government for help because Dubbo Regional Council refused to say what action was taken in response to the complaint.

The revelation comes after councillor Shields announced he would quit the top job to focus on his mental health and councillors agreed there was a need for an independent investigator to audit the council’s handling of past code of conduct complaints.

Dubbo mayor Ben Shields was not impressed at the May 24, 2021 council meeting. Picture: Ryan Young

In March 2019, the ratepayer, who wishes to remain anonymous, complained about a Facebook post Cr Shields made on the mayor’s official Facebook page two days before the NSW election.

At the time Nationals candidate for the state seat of Dubbo Dugald Saunders, and former Dubbo mayor-turned independent election candidate Mathew Dickerson, were in a tight tussle for votes.

In the Facebook post Cr Shields praised Mr Saunders, Labor candidate and Dubbo deputy mayor Stephen Lawrence, along with Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party candidate Lara Quealy.

“The advice I offer to Dubbo residents is … if you traditionally vote for the Coalition vote for Dugald Saunders and if you are usually a Labor supporter back Stephen Lawrence,” Cr Shields wrote.

“Let me be clear when I say it is not a good idea to support a candidate who is running simply to settle old scores, nor is it wise to simply back the candidate who spends a near fortune in election advertising.

“It serves no purpose to simply have a big advertising spender seeking to turn back the clock on amalgamation in office.”

The post was widely interpreted to be a dig at Mr Dickerson, who as Dubbo mayor opposed the forced amalgamation of Dubbo and Wellington councils.

Mr Saunders beat Mr Dickerson by 1550 votes and his victory helped the Coalition government secure a wafer thin one-seat majority in the NSW parliament.

Former Dubbo mayor Mathew Dickerson was anti-amalgamation and narrowly lost the 2019 election contest.

In their complaint, the ratepayer said Cr Shields’s Facebook appeared to be a breach of the code of conduct because the Facebook page the post was published on was titled ‘Mayor of the Dubbo Region — Ben Shields’, listed as being a government organisation and labelled “the official” mayor’s page.

The ratepayer argued it was wrong for Cr Shields as mayor to post material promoting certain election candidates over others.

At a confidential meeting of Dubbo Regional Council on November 4, 2019, councillors were presented with a report from the organisation’s internal ombudsman which concluded Cr Shields’s Facebook post breached the code of conduct because it appeared to assist the election campaign of others.

Minutes from the meeting show Cr Shields, along with Cr Lawrence and Cr Diffey who works for NSW parliament in Mr Saunders’s office, left the room when the complaint was discussed.

A controversial Facebook post made by Cr Shields about the 2019 election has been deleted, a Dubbo Regional Council staff member said.

The remaining councillors, with the exception of Dayne Gumley who was absent, agreed to adopt “recommendations 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the internal ombudsman's investigation report”, however what those recommendations were remained confidential.

According to council minutes “the matter concerned information that would, if disclosed confer a commercial advantage on a person with whom council is conducting or proposes to conduct business”.

In December 2019 when the ratepayer who complained about Cr Shields was told the code of conduct had been breached, a council staff member said “unfortunately given the confidential nature of the investigative process, I can’t advise of the content of recommendations 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 … I can confirm that the complaint has been finalised”.

Unhappy with council’s lack of transparency, the ratepayer raised concerns with the NSW Office of Local Government (OLG), who in a letter back to the ratepayer, said it had “identified concerns about the way in which this matter has been dealt with”.

“OLG has written to the council to advise of its concerns … OLG has also asked that the council inform you of the outcome of your complaint,” the OLG’s deputy secretary Tim Hurst said in a letter obtained by The Dubbo News.

After the OLG intervened, and 15 months after the complaint was first made, council finally told the ratepayer what action was taken after Cr Shields breached the code of conduct.

Mayor Ben Shields has announced he’s quitting the top job. Picture: Ryan Young

The ratepayer was told the Facebook post was removed from the mayor’s page, Cr Shields and other councillors attended social media training in February 2020 and council was reviewing its social media policy and expected to finalise a new on new one in 2020.

The other two recommendations councillors adopted in response to the code of conduct breach remain a mystery and a council spokeswoman refused to explain why.

The spokeswoman said council “always maintained strict confidentiality around code of conduct matters, those involved and the outcomes”

“Following advice received in early 2020 from the OLG, council has provided more informative recommendations when breaches of the code of conduct are reported to council,” she said.

“Council is currently focusing on its social media policies, noting the OLG released its consultation draft Model Social Media Policy and is seeking feedback from councils.

“Once a final model policy is available, council will finalise its policy in line with the model.”

The spokeswoman declined a request to say why resolutions advising of Crs Kevin Parker and Jane Diffey’s code of conduct breaches were made public in July 2020, but not Cr Shields’s breach.

Cr Shields told The Dubbo News he felt it was the mayor’s right to speak publicly about what they thought was best for Dubbo.

“I think it’s disgraceful that someone would even think that the mayor can’t have an opinion on things,” he said.

“It’s my understanding that the statewide code of conduct has changed...now everything is made public.”

Cr Shields said he did not know why his code of conduct breach was not made public because he was out of the room when the issue was dealt with.