Parramatta councillor Kellie Darley accuses council of withholding information from public
A Sydney councillor has accused her organisation of holding back information about potential partnerships, as she takes the council to court over a $1.15m Parra “Eels saga”.
NSW
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A Parramatta councillor has slammed the organisation for inking a confidentiality deed that she says will decrease public transparency – a year after the Parramatta Eels “saga” which led her to take the case to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Independent Kellie Darley fears the council will be forced to hold information from the community after most councillors voted to sign a deed over a new strategic partnership with an organisation whose identity has been withheld from the public.
The potential partnership – understood to be with a major sports organisation – comes a year after the council struck a three-year $1.15m deal with the Eels – raising the ire of Cr Darley because it “failed the pub test” among ratepayers’ funds being spent on a rich NRL club.
This week, Cr Darley blasted the council for “operating more and more like a private business” by “demanding” councillors ink the nondisclosure deed.
She argued the public would be kept in the dark about potential partnerships.
“This definitely doesn’t pass the pub test,’’ she said.
“Did we not learn anything from the community backlash to the secret Eels’ deal?
“The community expects, and has every right, to transparency from local government – not greater secrecy and more deals behind closed doors.
“This feels like a complete slap in the face to the community’s call for greater transparency about council’s partnerships.’’
But Parramatta Lord Mayor Martin Zaiter dismissed suggestions of secrecy.
He said the council was only in early discussions about a potential strategic partnership and would only proceed after a policy was adopted.
His fellow Liberal councillor Steven Issa tabled the motion for the deed in November and defended the move.
“We agreed to enter into a deed of confidentiality to enable councillors to receive commercial in confidence information to make an informed decision,’’ he said.
“We did not resolve to enter an agreement. We resolved to receive the information.’’
Cr Issa “categorically” disagreed that the council was withholding information from the public.
“All I’m going to say is that Parramatta is a global city and global cities need to enter into commercial agreements,’’ he said.
“We need to give confidence that when dealing with Parramatta we’re dealing with an organisation that upholds governance, probity and confidentiality.’’
Along with Cr Darley, councillors Sameer Pandey, Sue Greenwood and Cameron MacLean opposed the confidentiality deed but the rest of the chamber’s support pushed it across the line.
The new deed agreement comes a year after the controversial Eels partnership, which Cr Issa indicated could have hampered future commercial agreements between businesses and the council.
“I think there are organisations that are hesitant to engage with Parramatta Council as a result of how that result played out,’’ Cr Issa said.
Cr Darley faced a final NCAT hearing against the council on Thursday in her bid for the organisation to release documents outlining why it agreed to spend $1.15m to partner with the Eels last December.
She was twice refused Government Information Public Access documents over how the decision was made.
In July, NCAT senior member Michelle Riordan ordered the council to disclose all emails sent by former council officer Shannon Kliendienst to other staff between February and December last year.
The council’s legal team agreed to this but on Thursday, Cr Darley’s solicitor James Ryan told the court his client was still awaiting information about whether the council undertook a risk assessment before entering a deal with the Eels.
Outside the court he claimed the council had released “bugger all” and the council material was “full of redactions”.
“What Kellie can categorically say is that no information has been released to her over two tranches,’’ he said.
“There is not a single bit of information there’s a risk assessment, a due diligence assessment or an evaluation of the opportunity cost.’’
Ms Riordan held a confidential session in court with the council’s legal team and is expected to make a decision next year.
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Originally published as Parramatta councillor Kellie Darley accuses council of withholding information from public
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