Councillor Brooke Patterson wants probe into Heritage Department role in Aussie flag row
Councillor Brooke Patterson is not letting the Gold Coast’s double-sided Aussie flag row go - verbally lashing the council department responsible.
Council
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Outspoken Gold Coast councillor Brooke Patterson is labelling the Heritage Department “the department of activism” after allowing an order of double-sided Australian-Aboriginal flags.
Ms Patterson who publicised via Facebook the ordering of the flags - used as handouts at a citizenship ceremony late last year - doubled down on her criticism.
“The City is now investigating how this could have happened. I appreciate a young, inexperienced and enthusiastic team may have thought this was an inspired idea. My concern though, is how at no level this was stopped,” she wrote.
Ms Patterson said the purchase of the flags, understood to have been costed to ratepayers, would have gone through City procurement and finance sign offs.
“Perhaps most concerning, it is my understanding the team reached out to an officer within our own ‘Department of Heritage’ who supported the decision to change the flag. If this is the case, we have a bigger problem to solve than a few young officers misunderstanding their role,” she wrote.
Multiple residents posted in support of Cr Patterson, and targeted City officers saying “some of these faceless bureaucrats need to pull their heads in”.
Ms Patterson added: “The Department of Heritage covers all aspects of heritage, including indigenous. If those responsible for protecting our heritage do not know this is an improper decision, then we have a problem.
“It is not the Department of Activism, it is the Department of Heritage.”
Residents responded, saying “this is what happens when young people are indoctrinated in woke ideology”.
“Thankfully this was highlighted and prevented in time. The scariest thing is the influence unelected bureaucrats have in our governments of all levels,” a resident wrote.
Another posted: “Well done Brooke, this is why we voted for you.”
The Bulletin asked the City how many flags were ordered, what’s happened to them and “who signed off” on it.
A City statement said: “The matter is regrettable and the City apologises for any offence caused.
“The flags were distributed at two citizenship ceremonies in October but will not be used at future events. The matter is now under investigation.”
Late last week Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate’s office confirmed to The Australian the distribution of the flags had been cancelled for future council-hosted citizenship ceremonies including an Australia Day event with 400 new Aussies.
“A mistake was made and we have corrected the mistake,” his spokesman said, adding it was an “operational matter” for council CEO Tim Baker.
Ms Patterson last month claimed a giant restructure of the administration saw staff employed without a competitive HR process. Those claims were later rejected by the City.
Ms Patterson made the claims after an official complaint was lodged against her by a staffer who has since left the organisation.
Her claim and the rejection of it threatened to fuel tensions between Ms Patterson and Mr Baker who has been required to refer staffer complaints against her to council watchdog the Office of Independent Assessor OIA).
One of the key reasons for Mr Baker’s appointment was the restructure but sources say some senior councillors support Ms Patterson’s concerns about the knowledge loss after respected staffers were retrenched.
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