Casey Council scathing of IBAC inquiry

A parliamentary committee kept a council’s stinging attack on IBAC secret, but now The Australian can detail the blast.

Former Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon. Picture: Chris Eastman

A Melbourne council caught in an IBAC investigation blamed for the suicide of a former mayor has launched a scathing attack on the anti-corruption agency over the inquiry.

Casey Council’s rebuke of Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, issued in a submission to a parliamentary committee, claims the agency’s inquiry was under-resourced and took too long – and as a result compromised witness welfare.

Parliament’s integrity and oversight committee has published only a heavily redacted copy of Casey’s submission on its website, blacking out the council’s key criticisms of IBAC.

The Australian, however, has obtained an unredacted copy of Casey’s six-page submission detailing the council’s concerns about Operation Sandon, the agency’s probe into allegedly corrupt land deals between a developer and councillors.

“Given the nature and scale of Operation Sandon, one has to question whether the right amount of resources were made available to bring this to a conclusion as soon as reasonable when weighed against the impact on witnesses and others involved in terms of their wellbeing and reputations,” the council states in its submission.

“A key concern is with the level of resourcing that IBAC has been able to invest in bringing Operation Sandon to a conclusion as soon as possible and in a timelier manner, especially given the significant health, welfare and reputational impact on witnesses, their families and others.”

Former Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon took her life in January, three days after receiving IBAC’s draft report on her alleged role in the suspect land deals.

Friends and former council colleagues blame IBAC for the 58-year-old’s suicide, claiming its two-year investigation and the humiliation of her public examination left her depressed, isolated and paranoid about going to jail.

Stapledon’s supporters say the welfare support offered by IBAC was inadequate, and uncertainty about her fate fuelled by the marathon investigation, and a lack of communication from IBAC, contributed to her death.

They also claim that IBAC and the Victorian Inspectorate failed adequately to respond to warnings about suicide risk.

Casey was critical in its redacted submission about IBAC opening new inquiries before com­pleting Operation Sandon.

“This also calls into question why IBAC has commenced a couple of new public hearings before the conclusion of Operation Sandon,” the council states in its submission to the parliamentary committee, which is expected to table its report shortly.

“Questions remain around why, when resources are limited, IBAC started new hearings when this one had not been concluded.”

The watchdog rejected the criticisms. “IBAC has the capacity to manage multiple investi­gations across both the public sector and Victoria Police at any one time,” a spokesperson said.

“While we have previously commented publicly about funding constraints, this does not impact on the quality of the investigations we do.”

IBAC said legal action from witnesses had delayed the report.

Casey called on IBAC to ­explain why some witnesses were grilled in public and others in ­private.

“(Council) officers were unable to discuss any IBAC-related matters with councillors, effectively leaving them in limbo and with limited support,” the council states.

“It would be good to understand what threshold IBAC applies in determining who will be appearing as a public witness versus a witness in private.

“This is important,” the council adds, “given the significant adverse impact on witnesses, esp­ecially those who had to undergo … adversarial public and media scrutiny … and the now prolonged tarnishing of their personal and professional reputations”.

If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide, call: Lifeline: 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au; or Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636 or beyondblue.org.au