City of Melbourne property general manager Roger Teale in conflict of interest claim

The executive in charge of Melbourne City Council’s property and infrastructure projects is an adviser to a major CBD developer, a role which has been branded a conflict of interest.

Melbourne City Council’s Roger Teale holds down jobs in the property industry.

The executive in charge of Melbourne City Council’s property and infrastructure projects also runs his own property consultancy and is an adviser to a big city developer.

The revelations have prompted community and ratepayer groups to demand answers over a possible conflict of interest.

Roger Teale has been Town Hall’s manager of property, infrastructure and design since February 2021.

At the same time he is director of Collins St firm Lautaret which “provides strategic advice to property, construction, government’’.

Mr Teale is also a consultant for development giants Mirvac which has multimillion-dollar projects across Melbourne.

City of Melbourne property general manager Roger Teale is also a managing director of Lautaret.

One former long-serving city councillor told the Herald Sun that having a private consultancy while working as an executive for a public institution was “highly irregular”.

Mr Teale now earns more than $420,000 a year in his council post, after a career in the private sector, most recently a 12-year stint with developers Lendlease.

Mr Teale has declared his position in his summary of personal interests lodged with city management.

“As a director of Lautaret Consulting I have a number of clients in the property and infrastructure sector that may have from time to time business engagement with City of Melbourne,” it says.

“I will ensure that I register any conflicts of interest to the CEO’s office and submit a Conflict of Interest declaration form to Director Governance including a management plan to mitigate the conflict.’’

Roger Teale’s Lautaret consultancy is based in the old Georges building on Collins St.

Mr Teale’s possible conflict of interest emerged when his former employer Lendlease was named in June as the winner of the $1.7b tender to redevelop the southern precinct at the council-owned Queen Victoria Market.

Friends of Queen Victoria Market president Mary-Lou Howie called for more transparency around the bidding process and questioned how an executive on the public payroll could also run a private consultancy in the same field.

The Herald Sun was told by the council that Mr Teale withdrew from any involvement in negotiations once a shortlist of tendering companies, including Lendlease, had been formed.

But a spokesman later said Mr Teale had recused himself earlier from the negotiations.

Council Watch spokesman Dean Hurlston said there was something drastically wrong with the culture in councils.

“There can be no excuse for any involvement in any process that involves public money where current or previous relationships or links are already in the public domain. It’s just not good enough.,” he said.

President of the Friends of Queen Victoria Market Mary-Lou Howie.

Council Watch spokesman Dean Hurlston.

A City of Melbourne spokesman said that over the past 12 months, Mr Teale had not engaged any new clients at Lautaret because of his full-time employment at council.

The spokesman also said a range of “robust processes and protocols’’ were in place around council tenders.

“(This was) to ensure councillors and officers exercised the highest level of integrity when assessing projects and spending public funds to deliver the best possible outcome from the community.”

“Council has ensured there has been no conflict of interest, and independent probity experts were involved in every stage of the tender.’’

Council started the tender process with expressions of interest for the southern site opening in June 2021.

Mr Teale withdrew from the process in September 2021, council said, when 10 companies were in the running. Negotiations occurred with preferred respondents during 2022.

In June, Lendlease revealed its vision for the precinct, to be known as Gurrowa Place, featuring three major buildings and a new square.

But the wall of three towers, up to 49 storeys high, was later criticised as being reminiscent of the loathed and now-demolished Gas & Fuel Towers on Flinders St.

A 1.8ha “Market Square’’ will replace the current open-air car park. An underground car park will be built beneath two of the towers.