Land and Environment Court hands down decision in Liverpool City Council, Ron Hoenig legal battle

The Office of Local Government has been found to have denied a southwest Sydney council procedural fairness over the publication of a report into allegations of corruption and bullying.

Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun and Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig are at the heart of the case in the NSW Land and Environment Court.

The Office of Local Government has been found to have denied a southwest Sydney council procedural fairness over the publication of a report into allegations of corruption and bullying.

Liverpool City Council took legal action against Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig after he foreshadowed suspending the council and delaying upcoming elections.

Justice John Robson handed down his judgment in the NSW Land and Environment Court on Monday, finding OLG deputy secretary Brett Whitworth had failed to observe procedural fairness in publishing a 50-page interim report before the inquiry was complete.

However, Justice Robson rejected all of the council’s remaining claims, including that the publication of the interim report was an act of bias.

“As such, the publication of the interim report was not an act of partiality,” the judge found.

The Office of Local Government compiled the 50-page interim report, which outlined alleged corruption and bullying inside the council, and published it in July alongside Mr Hoenig’s announcement of a public inquiry into the council.

The council voted to take Mr Hoenig to court before the report was ultimately removed from the office’s website, which the latter’s spokeswoman said was an “act of good faith”.

During the legal battle, the council asked Justice Robson to set aside the interim report, and to disqualify Mr Hoenig and Mr Whitworth from taking further steps in reporting on the results of the investigation.

Justice Robson was also asked to determine whether Mr Whitworth had the power to make an interim report before a public inquiry, and if he and his office failed to afford procedural fairness and remain free from actual or apprehended bias.

On Monday, the judge upheld the council’s complaint about a lack of procedural fairness but dismissed all other grounds of its legal challenge.

The council’s barrister, Tim Robertson, had previously argued the “allegations made in the report are made by political enemies” of Liberal Liverpool mayor Ned Mannoun, and that Mr Hoenig knew the publication of a “devastating” report was procedurally unfair.

“The report was, as I described, poisonous. It was making allegations of criminality against named persons. It should never have seen the light of day,” Mr Robertson told the court.

Barrister Naomi Sharp SC, acting for Mr Hoenig, previously conceded the publication of the report prior to the completion of the investigation was unfair.

However, Ms Sharp argued given the report was unpublished, it was now a nullity and it “does not invalidate the decision to appoint a public inquiry”.

Ms Sharp said there was “no evidence” to satisfy Mr Hoenig had a “closed” and therefore biased mind when opting to publish the report prior to the public inquiry.

A spokeswoman for the Office of Local Government welcomed Justice Robson’s ruling and said the council had been “largely unsuccessful in (its) legal challenge”.

“Justice Robson’s judgment is clear that the advice given to the minister about the serious concerns at council was reasonable,” the spokeswoman said.

In light of the findings, the council has until Thursday to respond to Mr Hoenig’s initial notice of intention to defer the upcoming election and suspend the council.

Meanwhile, the parties will have 21 days to file their submissions on court costs.

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Justice Robson had found the interim report was biased. He in fact found its publication was not an act of bias.