City of Melbourne property exec Roger Teale referred to IBAC over conflict of interest claims

The executive in charge of Melbourne City Council’s property and infrastructure projects was paid more than $140,000 by developers for external consultancy work.

City of Melbourne’s head of property Roger Teale is facing conflict of interest claims.

Melbourne City Council’s executive in charge of property and developments raked in more than $140,000 in 18 months from external consultancies.

The payments, earned for work carried out for major property developers including Mirvac, came on top of Mr Teales’s $420,000 Town Hall annual salary.

The Herald Sun revealed last week that Roger Teale still runs his own specialist property and infrastructure business, as well as being on the books with developers Mirvac as a consultant.

Mr Teale is one of the council’s top executives, heading the property, infrastructure and design portfolio since February 2021.

But his continuing private interests have raised concerns about possible conflicts of interest and will now lead to a complaint being lodged with corruption watchdog IBAC.

Council executive Roger Teale is also Lautaret managing director.

It can now be revealed in the 18 months to March this year Mr Teale earned more than $140,000 from a range of developers including Mirvac, CostaFox (now Monno), Greystar, Eke Panuka Development, as well as his own property consultancy Lautaret.

Mirvac and Monno both have major projects in the pipeline in the City of Melbourne.

Mr Teale was also on the payroll of big-shot Melbourne architectural firm Bates Smart and has served as a board member at Fire Safety Cladding Victoria.

Mr Teale did not return calls from the Herald Sun.

The council said Mr Teale had followed all integrity processes and that in the past 12 months his Lautaret business had “not engaged any new clients due to his full-time employment at council”.

Council Watch spokesman Dean Hurlston said having related consultancies could be “problematic”.

“It is not illegal, but we expect anyone paid on the public purse to be 100 per cent transparent and call out any and all conflicts,” he said.

Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp, former precinct renewal boss Patrick Burgess and Roger Teale.

Mr Hurlston said he had referred the matter to Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission.

“Given the associations, it is wholly appropriate for these matters to be referred in the first instance to IBAC. Which we have done based on information to date. This is in their wheelhouse.’’

IBAC has recently warned about “soft corruption” in local government about council links with developers.

A former, long-serving city councillor has also described Mr Teale’s consultancy arrangements as “highly irregular”.

Before working for the council, Mr Teale was employed by Lendlease for 12 years.

Lendlease was announced in June as the preferred tenderer for the council’s $1.7bn redevelopment of the southern precinct at the council-owned Queen Victoria Market.

The council said Mr Teale had recused himself from any negotiations when 10 companies, including Lendlease, submitted their tenders.

But lobby group Friends of the Queen Victoria Market called for more transparency around the Lendlease deal.

Lord Mayor Sally Capp said details of the Lendlease deal were still confidential but promised to provide more information once the arrangement had been finalised.