Huon Valley councillor Mike Wilson the target of a code of conduct complaint into the truth of mints before council meetings

Ratepayers of a southern council will foot the bill for a code of conduct investigation into whether a councillor was lying when he said mints are handed out at the start of council meetings.

A TASMANIAN council will bear the costs associated with a code of conduct complaint against a councillor about whether or not they lied “under oath” about mints being handed out at the start of council meetings.

The case has also prompted the local government minister to ask for possible legislative changes for extra checks into complaints to ensure ongoing confidence in “the use of public resources”.

The Mercury revealed on Monday high-profile Tasmanian councillor Mick Newell would be suspended for six weeks from today, after having three code of conduct complaints against him upheld.

The same community member who lodged the three complaints against Cr Newell, Geoffrey Swan, also lodged one against Cr Mike Wilson.

The complaint alleged Cr Wilson, while appearing as a witness at a code of conduct hearing in 2019, stated under oath that mints of some kind were always handed out at Huon Valley Council meetings.

Councillor Mike Wilson was the subject of a code of conduct complaint regarding whether or not mints were handed out at the start of council meetings. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

Mr Swan said he considered that to be a lie because he had been going to council meetings for five years and he had never seen mints handed out.

“The panel noted the matter of whether or not mints are distributed at Huon Valley Council meetings is in itself trivial, but based its investigation on deciding whether or not sufficient evidence was provided to show that Cr Wilson had lied about this practice under oath,” the final report read. The panel ultimately dismissed the complaint against Cr Wilson.

The council in question bears the cost of a code of conduct complaint, even if it is dismissed.

Local Government Minister Mark Shelton said while the Cr Wilson complaint may have appeared “frivolous” on the surface, it was linked to other complaints associated with the Huon Valley Council.

“I have tasked the Local Government Division with providing advice to me regarding administrative or legislative changes that could be made to allow additional preliminary checks before a code of conduct panel is convened, to ensure there is ongoing confidence in the system and the use of public resources.”