By Benjamin Preiss and Noel Towell
Casey councillors wept and one read from the Bible at their final council meeting on Tuesday night, one hour after legislation to sack them passed both houses of State Parliament.
A packed public gallery heard the councillors defend their record on the same day a searing report from a state-appointed monitor condemned their conduct, citing a culture of bullying, conflicts of interest and predetermined voting at council meetings.
The council was sacked on Tuesday after State Parliament voted to uphold the findings of monitor Laurinda Gardner, who had been brought in by the government following serious corruption allegations raised in public hearings by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission.
Casey mayor Susan Serey fights back tears at Tuesday night's final council meeting.Credit: Justin McManus
Casey will probably not hold council elections again until 2024, Local Government Minister Adem Somyurek said.
In the council chambers in Narre Warren, mayor Susan Serey fought back tears as she read a statement outlining the council’s achievements.
“Though we only received this [monitor’s] report today, there appeared no concrete evidence of underperformance,” she said. “This controversy has unfortunately overshadowed the good work achieved by this and [previous] councils and I’m sure we all regret this.”
But earlier in the day she was more defiant, saying the council had done everything to “remain a high-performing council”.
“I am at a loss to see why and how the state government can justify their decision when we have cooperated fully with any investigations, while clearly demonstrating that we have been able to govern and meet our responsibilities under the act.”
An IBAC surveillance photo of Casey councillor Sam Aziz (left) and developer John Woodman (right) at a Subway restaurant in April 2018. Credit: IBAC
Former mayor Geoff Ablett praised Ms Serey's performance as mayor, lamenting that her year had been cut short.
Recent events had taken their toll, said Mr Ablett, whose relationship with developer John Woodman was exposed to scrutiny in IBAC's searing cross-examination of his financial dealings.
"It's not easy being in a public interviewing situation where you're open to the press and allegations," he said.
But Mr Ablett insisted he had "cooperated fully". "Nothing deserved the outcome we got today," he said.
Sacked councillor Damien Rosario told Tuesday night's meeting he had been told it would be a better look if he resigned from the council but he decided to stay until the final moment.
"We will stay until the end to serve you. That is who we are and what we do," he said, speaking directly to the public gallery. "It was for our community. For you, always you," he said. "And maybe one day I will stand with you here again, here in this place where I belong."
Ms Gardner's report recommended that the entire council should be dismissed.
“There is an overriding view that if one or both councillors at the centre of the investigation to date were removed, everything would be all right and that the remaining councillors have ‘done nothing wrong’,” she wrote. “This is an inadequate response to the situation…”
The council was also riven by internal bullying and intimidation, Ms Gardner wrote.
“This unwillingness of councillors to call out unacceptable councillor behaviour and hold each other to account appears to be motivated by a fear of conflict or further intimidation that has enabled inappropriate behaviour to go unchecked.”
The councillors also decided behind closed doors to vote “en bloc”, leading to short council meetings that sometimes lasted less than an hour.
The passage through State Parliament of the bill allowing the sacking was marked by further controversy on Tuesday, even though both parties supported the move.
During Tuesday afternoon's heated debate, Mr Somyurek and Liberal upper house veteran Bruce Atkinson exchanged barbs in the Legislative Council chamber.
Mr Atkinson crossed the floor to vote against his own party on an amendment calling for early council elections at Casey.
Minister for Local Government Adem Somyurek.Credit: Eddie Jim
Mr Somyurek said an extended period was required for administrators to "embed good governance practices" across the council and repair the damage done to its reputation.
"Our view is that democratic representation on council needs to be delayed for an extended period of time in order for the administrators to do their job," he said.
"Victorians deserve the highest standards of governance and integrity from their councils, unfortunately what the monitor found was something well below those expectations."
John Woodman late last year, after spending a day on the stand at IBAC.Credit: Justin McManus
Public hearings by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission have exposed explosive allegations of huge donations paid by Mr Woodman to councillors Sam Aziz and Mr Ablett.
Mr Somyurek said current laws made it near impossible to sack individual councillors, which is something he wanted to change.
Shadow local government spokesman Tim Smith said the opposition "absolutely" supported the dismissal of Casey council.
"It should have happened much quicker than it has happened. I don't know why it's taken this long," he said.
But Mr Smith said two years was an appropriate period for the council to be run by administrators and it was "not abnormal" for special elections to be held.