Cairns mayor, Amy Eden, referred to Office of the Independent Assessor over personal website
Queensland’s corruption watchdog has been called to investigate the use of Far North ratepayer resources to build a mayor’s personal website with at least two complaints lodged since its launch in early March.
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Queensland’s corruption watchdog has been called to investigate the use of Far North ratepayer resources to build a mayor’s personal website with at least two complaints lodged since its launch in early March.
Cairns Regional Council mayor Amy Eden used staff and equipment to create her promotional site — amyeden.com.au — drawing criticism from fellow councillors who described the production as “electioneering” and a “misuse of council resources”.
The Office of the Independent Assessor has declined to comment but the Cairns Post is aware of at least two complaints regarding the website which was launched with the assistance of Ms Eden’s then personal adviser, Gavin King.
Ms Eden and Mr King both declined to answer questions from the Cairns Post regarding their use of the council’s assets to create the site.
Under the Department of Local Government’s guidelines councillor advisers are prohibited from undertaking work that is considered to be political campaigning.
A Right to Information (RTI) request obtained by the Cairns Post further highlighted the underlying tensions between Ms Eden and the council’s top executive over the issue.
In a draft statement in relation to questions from the Cairns Post regarding recent council expenditures in April, Ms Eden defended her use of ratepayer money.
“Whether attending formal governance training, engaging with regional stakeholders, or using digital platforms to communicate directly with residents, these are all standard and necessary elements of modern civic leadership,” Ms Eden said in the drafted response.
“All expenses and activities undertaken by Mayor Eden — including travel, training, stakeholder engagement, and communications tools — are within Council’s policy, transparently recorded, and appropriately approved.”
In response, chief executive Ken Gouldthorp said he couldn’t approve the mayor’s comments because it was unclear as to whether Ms Eden had adhered to the council’s guidelines.
“Council is not able to make the statement proposed in para 1 in respect to use of digital platforms in context of the recent questions raised on your personal website,” Mr Gouldthorp said.
“Finance are reviewing our accounts/records to obtain clarity on the questions raised, in the interim Council is not in position to be able to provide the broad statement proposed in para 2.”
Local government minister Ann Leahy said mayors and councillors were accountable for their own actions once elected.
“The OIA and the CCC (Crime and Corruption Commission) are both independent, so I don’t have visibility of what complaints have gone through,” Ms Leahy said.
“I encourage them to follow the Local Government Act and if they need further advice on how they can improve governance, I’m always very happy for the department officers to assist them in that regard.”
A council spokesman said it was “not made aware of all referrals to the OIA or the status of them”.
The “independent” website initially featured the council’s logo and the Team Eden branding and colour scheme used during her election campaign.
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