”Ridiculous”: Alderman accuses council of secrecy on UTAS

A Hobart Alderman has spoken of the lengths he went through to get information on a meeting with UTAS, only to be silenced. FULL STORY. >>

A Hobart City alderman has accused the council of secrecy when it comes to its dealings with the University of Tasmania, speaking of the hoops he had to jump through to obtain minutes of a meeting with UTAS.

Jeff Briscoe said a council committee held regular meetings with the university, called the City of Hobart and UTAS governance forum.

“We should immediately stop the governance committee we se tup in the beginning of 2019,” Mr Briscoe said at Monday’s council meeting.

“If it was Fragrance or any other developer that we meet regularly with concerning their developments, we would be considered to be in breach of all sorts of things.”

Mr Briscoe said he had jumped through hoops to obtain information about what was being discussed at the meetings.

Alderman Jeff Briscoe. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

“I have attempted for two months to get the minutes,” Mr Briscoe said.

“At one stage I was provided with 1000 pages, ‘you look at these 1000 pages and you’ll find your answers there’, it wasn’t in those pages.

The Alderman said he was so frustrated he submitted a right to information request.

“I was told that right of information would have to get approval from the university to allow me to look at minutes of a committee we set up,” Mr Briscoe said.

“It was ridiculous.”

Mr Briscoe said through external legal advice, he found out he did have a right to get the minutes.

“I got them, but I had to sign a confidentiality agreement,” Mr Briscoe said.

“They are secret minutes, I can’t tell you what’s in them, I’ve read it, why are they secret?”

Mr Briscoe asked when they would be made public.

Following on from a public meeting on Wednesday where community members raised concerns about the UTAS campus move to the CBD, Mr Briscoe said many perceived the council closely co-operating with the university.

“We should immediately stop any co-operation with UTAS, it’s in the corruption of the process that we meeting with them,” Mr Briscoe said.

“I think you’ve got a probity issue, a serious probity issue.

“The community have spoken strongly, seeing that connection.”

The council ruled that the motions made at the public meeting would immediately be acted upon and that a report would be prepared within a month.

A separate report, voted for in March, which will consider the impacts of the move will be dealt with separately.

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