Parramatta councillor Kellie Darley takes council to NCAT over Eels partnership

A councillor who has taken Parramatta Council to court over its refusal to release information surrounding its $1.15m deal with the Eels to the public is celebrating a win.

Kellie Darley has welcomed the NCAT’s decision in a part-heard hearing. Picture: Alexander Mayes Photography

Parramatta independent councillor Kellie Darley is celebrating a partial win in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal after it agreed the council must release documents outlining why it agreed to spend $1.15m to partner with the Eels.

Ms Darley has been a vocal critic of ratepayers’ funds being spent on the club and was twice refused Government Information Public Access documents over how the decision was made.

On Wednesday, NCAT senior member Michelle Riordan ordered the council to disclose all emails sent by former council officer Shannon Kliendienst to other staff between February and December last year.

The council’s legal team agreed to this.

Some emails withcommercially sensitive information will be redacted but are to be directed to Ms Darley and her solicitor James Ryan by August 14. Ms Darley is not seeking commercially confidential information over finances but the production of documents that delve into the “risk assessment” over why the deal with the Eels was in the public interest.

Solicitor James Ryan and Kellie Darley after the NCAT hearing.

Other material that releases staff reports recommending the deal with the Eels could be made available later.

After the emails are sent to the applicant, the tribunal will make a ruling on September 5.

Outside court, Mr Ryan said he was very pleased with the tribunal’s decision and said it was disappointing the information could not be made available to his client and the community initially.

“It’s a shame we had to come to the tribunal to go to this effort,’’ he told reporters.

He said his client had never sought the release of commercially confidential information.

“This has always been about governance decisions, the risk assessments and the valuation of why it’s justified to recommend the spending of public money by the City of Parramatta sponsoring the Eels,’’ he said.

Ms Darley welcomed the court’s acknowledgment that discussions the council staff had about the Eels deal were to be released.

The deal with the Eels mainly supports the NRLW side. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty Images

“The community expects a high level of transparency and for me this is about finding where that line is and unfortunately a lot has been withheld from the public, and I think it’s time we’re more transparent,’’ she said.

The council initially proposed a $2.4m deal with the Eels but it was cut to $1.15m following backlash.

After nine councillors supported it and four opposed the deal in December, $383,500 was committed for the first year to go towards scholarships for western Sydney women and clinics and school holiday camps for children. The council’s logo will appear on the NRLW team’s jersey.

Earlier in court, Mr Ryan’s application to have the council’s chief executive Gail Connolly be a witness was rejected.

The court heard there was a “systematic’’ problem with the council because Ms Connolly was the “primary decision maker” there.

That meant if GIPA applications were refused and went to an internal review they would still be determined by Ms Connolly.

”It’s systematic at the City of Parramatta,’’ Mr Ryan told the court.

He said “it was not a one off” and it was “a repeated action’’.

“You will see the CEO states it’s a contentious application and we regard this as a normal application.’’

Parramatta Council chief executive Gail Connolly. Picture: David Swift

That included a Sydney journalist having a GIPA request – also to determine why the council staff recommended the Eels’ partnership – refused.

Ms Riordan said an application for Ms Connolly to be summoned on July 26 was too late.

In a statement Parramatta Council issued after the hearing, the “systematic” allegations were “strenously denied”.

The statement said the council had been successful in preventing the release of commercially sensitive information and a breach of a legally binding commercial contract.

It said the council proposed to the tribunal that Ms Darley be provided with access to certain information that it previously offered her “many months ago”.

The statement continued that Ms Darley’s “delay” in accepting the council’s offer had come at significant expense to the community.

Ms Darley said the allegations were “just a complete falsehood”.

“At any point in the process, council could have made a new decision and released the documents,’’ she said.

“They were reminded of this at the NCAT directions hearing back in May.’’

She added: “Council has wasted money delaying this whole process, when they could have done the right thing from the beginning and provided the documents I lawfully applied for under the GIPA Act back in February.

In the statement, Ms Connolly said the council always took its responsibility to protect the private and commercially sensitive information provided by community members seriously.

“Council will continue to zealously protect the confidential information that it holds to ensure that public confidence in the good governance of the city is maintained at all times,’’ she said.