❓ The Attorney General accuses a Liberal MLC of abusing the Corruption and Crime Commission process to damage an Albany City councillor's reputation, following a dismissed complaint by a property developer regarding a development application referral.
AnsweredQoN 254Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ALBANY CITY COUNCIL - CORRUPTION AND CRIME COMMISSION COMPLAINT
Last month the opposition made misleading public statements about a complaint lodged with the Corruption and Crime Commission involving the Albany City Council - a complaint that was dismissed because there was no evidence whatsoever. Will the Attorney General provide the house with the facts of this matter? Mr J.A. McGINTY
Last month the opposition made misleading public statements about a complaint lodged with the Corruption and Crime Commission involving the Albany City Council - a complaint that was dismissed because there was no evidence whatsoever. Will the Attorney General provide the house with the facts of this matter? Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
Hon Robyn McSweeney, a Liberal MLC, has abused the processes of the Corruption and Crime Commission in an attempt to unfairly damage the reputation of an Albany City councillor. It relates to a complaint made to the Corruption and Crime Commission by a property developer against a councillor in January of this year, which the commission duly looked into and dismissed several weeks later because the allegations were unfounded. The property developer, Ridgecity Holdings Pty Ltd, and its director Chris Plowman, are disgruntled at the council’s decision to refer the development application for a high-rise apartment in Earl Street, Albany, to the State Administrative Tribunal. Mr Plowman is the person who made the unfounded complaint to the Corruption and Crime Commission back in January of this year. The Corruption and Crime Commission advised Mr Plowman in March that his complaint would not be pursued by it. This fact, however, did not stop Hon Robyn McSweeney subsequently making a statement to the Legislative Council on 4 April in which she said - People have told me that councillors have been threatened. A complaint has been lodged with the Corruption and Crime Commission in response to one councillor’s alleged actions. Hon Robyn McSweeney repeated her statement on 11 April to GWN news. This is nothing short of scurrilous, and the Leader of the Opposition knows it. Hon Robyn McSweeney would have been fully aware that the complaint to the Corruption and Crime Commission had gone nowhere, but instead chose to abuse the processes of the Corruption and Crime Commission to do the bidding of a property developer. We changed the law to allow the fact that a matter had been referred to the Corruption and Crime Commission to be made public. This was not done to allow members of Parliament to use parliamentary privilege and to mislead the public over a matter that has already been dismissed as being without substance by the Corruption and Crime Commission. The Mayor of Albany wrote to the Leader of the Opposition on 18 April to express her concern and utter dismay at the impact on the council and to demand an apology. In the letter Mayor Allison Goode wrote - Many of the statements made in Mrs McSweeney’s address are patently incorrect . . . . . . The Council has acted legally and appropriately in the application . . . . . . . . . ill advised and ill-informed intervention by a State Politician in what is a local planning process is unnecessary, unwarranted and inappropriate. . . . In future should members of your team wish to make allegations about Council, they should at least give the City the opportunity to provide a briefing on what are the actual facts of the matter at hand. I table the letter from the Mayor of Albany to the Leader of the Opposition and call upon the Leader of the Opposition to demand an apology from his member. [See paper 1514.]
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: Hon Robyn McSweeney, a Liberal MLC, has abused the processes of the Corruption and Crime Commission in an attempt to unfairly damage the reputation of an Albany City councillor. It relates to a complaint made to the Corruption and Crime Commission by a property developer against a councillor in January of this year, which the commission duly looked into and dismissed several weeks later because the allegations were unfounded. The property developer, Ridgecity Holdings Pty Ltd, and its director Chris Plowman, are disgruntled at the council’s decision to refer the development application for a high-rise apartment in Earl Street, Albany, to the State Administrative Tribunal. Mr Plowman is the person who made the unfounded complaint to the Corruption and Crime Commission back in January of this year. The Corruption and Crime Commission advised Mr Plowman in March that his complaint would not be pursued by it. This fact, however, did not stop Hon Robyn McSweeney subsequently making a statement to the Legislative Council on 4 April in which she said - People have told me that councillors have been threatened. A complaint has been lodged with the Corruption and Crime Commission in response to one councillor’s alleged actions. Hon Robyn McSweeney repeated her statement on 11 April to GWN news. This is nothing short of scurrilous, and the Leader of the Opposition knows it. Hon Robyn McSweeney would have been fully aware that the complaint to the Corruption and Crime Commission had gone nowhere, but instead chose to abuse the processes of the Corruption and Crime Commission to do the bidding of a property developer. We changed the law to allow the fact that a matter had been referred to the Corruption and Crime Commission to be made public. This was not done to allow members of Parliament to use parliamentary privilege and to mislead the public over a matter that has already been dismissed as being without substance by the Corruption and Crime Commission. The Mayor of Albany wrote to the Leader of the Opposition on 18 April to express her concern and utter dismay at the impact on the council and to demand an apology. In the letter Mayor Allison Goode wrote - Many of the statements made in Mrs McSweeney’s address are patently incorrect . . . . . . The Council has acted legally and appropriately in the application . . . . . . . . . ill advised and ill-informed intervention by a State Politician in what is a local planning process is unnecessary, unwarranted and inappropriate. . . . In future should members of your team wish to make allegations about Council, they should at least give the City the opportunity to provide a briefing on what are the actual facts of the matter at hand. I table the letter from the Mayor of Albany to the Leader of the Opposition and call upon the Leader of the Opposition to demand an apology from his member. [See paper 1514.]
Hon Robyn McSweeney, a Liberal MLC, has abused the processes of the Corruption and Crime Commission in an attempt to unfairly damage the reputation of an Albany City councillor. It relates to a complaint made to the Corruption and Crime Commission by a property developer against a councillor in January of this year, which the commission duly looked into and dismissed several weeks later because the allegations were unfounded. The property developer, Ridgecity Holdings Pty Ltd, and its director Chris Plowman, are disgruntled at the council’s decision to refer the development application for a high-rise apartment in Earl Street, Albany, to the State Administrative Tribunal. Mr Plowman is the person who made the unfounded complaint to the Corruption and Crime Commission back in January of this year. The Corruption and Crime Commission advised Mr Plowman in March that his complaint would not be pursued by it. This fact, however, did not stop Hon Robyn McSweeney subsequently making a statement to the Legislative Council on 4 April in which she said - People have told me that councillors have been threatened. A complaint has been lodged with the Corruption and Crime Commission in response to one councillor’s alleged actions. Hon Robyn McSweeney repeated her statement on 11 April to GWN news. This is nothing short of scurrilous, and the Leader of the Opposition knows it. Hon Robyn McSweeney would have been fully aware that the complaint to the Corruption and Crime Commission had gone nowhere, but instead chose to abuse the processes of the Corruption and Crime Commission to do the bidding of a property developer. We changed the law to allow the fact that a matter had been referred to the Corruption and Crime Commission to be made public. This was not done to allow members of Parliament to use parliamentary privilege and to mislead the public over a matter that has already been dismissed as being without substance by the Corruption and Crime Commission. The Mayor of Albany wrote to the Leader of the Opposition on 18 April to express her concern and utter dismay at the impact on the council and to demand an apology. In the letter Mayor Allison Goode wrote - Many of the statements made in Mrs McSweeney’s address are patently incorrect . . . . . . The Council has acted legally and appropriately in the application . . . . . . . . . ill advised and ill-informed intervention by a State Politician in what is a local planning process is unnecessary, unwarranted and inappropriate. . . . In future should members of your team wish to make allegations about Council, they should at least give the City the opportunity to provide a briefing on what are the actual facts of the matter at hand. I table the letter from the Mayor of Albany to the Leader of the Opposition and call upon the Leader of the Opposition to demand an apology from his member. [See paper 1514.]
. . . The Council has acted legally and appropriately in the application . . . . . . . . . ill advised and ill-informed intervention by a State Politician in what is a local planning process is unnecessary, unwarranted and inappropriate. . . . In future should members of your team wish to make allegations about Council, they should at least give the City the opportunity to provide a briefing on what are the actual facts of the matter at hand.
. . . . . . ill advised and ill-informed intervention by a State Politician in what is a local planning process is unnecessary, unwarranted and inappropriate. . . . In future should members of your team wish to make allegations about Council, they should at least give the City the opportunity to provide a briefing on what are the actual facts of the matter at hand.
. . . ill advised and ill-informed intervention by a State Politician in what is a local planning process is unnecessary, unwarranted and inappropriate. . . . In future should members of your team wish to make allegations about Council, they should at least give the City the opportunity to provide a briefing on what are the actual facts of the matter at hand.
. . . In future should members of your team wish to make allegations about Council, they should at least give the City the opportunity to provide a briefing on what are the actual facts of the matter at hand.
[See paper 1514.]
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: Hon Robyn McSweeney, a Liberal MLC, has abused the processes of the Corruption and Crime Commission in an attempt to unfairly damage the reputation of an Albany City councillor. It relates to a complaint made to the Corruption and Crime Commission by a property developer against a councillor in January of this year, which the commission duly looked into and dismissed several weeks later because the allegations were unfounded. The property developer, Ridgecity Holdings Pty Ltd, and its director Chris Plowman, are disgruntled at the council’s decision to refer the development application for a high-rise apartment in Earl Street, Albany, to the State Administrative Tribunal. Mr Plowman is the person who made the unfounded complaint to the Corruption and Crime Commission back in January of this year. The Corruption and Crime Commission advised Mr Plowman in March that his complaint would not be pursued by it. This fact, however, did not stop Hon Robyn McSweeney subsequently making a statement to the Legislative Council on 4 April in which she said - People have told me that councillors have been threatened. A complaint has been lodged with the Corruption and Crime Commission in response to one councillor’s alleged actions. Hon Robyn McSweeney repeated her statement on 11 April to GWN news. This is nothing short of scurrilous, and the Leader of the Opposition knows it. Hon Robyn McSweeney would have been fully aware that the complaint to the Corruption and Crime Commission had gone nowhere, but instead chose to abuse the processes of the Corruption and Crime Commission to do the bidding of a property developer. We changed the law to allow the fact that a matter had been referred to the Corruption and Crime Commission to be made public. This was not done to allow members of Parliament to use parliamentary privilege and to mislead the public over a matter that has already been dismissed as being without substance by the Corruption and Crime Commission. The Mayor of Albany wrote to the Leader of the Opposition on 18 April to express her concern and utter dismay at the impact on the council and to demand an apology. In the letter Mayor Allison Goode wrote - Many of the statements made in Mrs McSweeney’s address are patently incorrect . . . . . . The Council has acted legally and appropriately in the application . . . . . . . . . ill advised and ill-informed intervention by a State Politician in what is a local planning process is unnecessary, unwarranted and inappropriate. . . . In future should members of your team wish to make allegations about Council, they should at least give the City the opportunity to provide a briefing on what are the actual facts of the matter at hand. I table the letter from the Mayor of Albany to the Leader of the Opposition and call upon the Leader of the Opposition to demand an apology from his member. [See paper 1514.]
Hon Robyn McSweeney, a Liberal MLC, has abused the processes of the Corruption and Crime Commission in an attempt to unfairly damage the reputation of an Albany City councillor. It relates to a complaint made to the Corruption and Crime Commission by a property developer against a councillor in January of this year, which the commission duly looked into and dismissed several weeks later because the allegations were unfounded. The property developer, Ridgecity Holdings Pty Ltd, and its director Chris Plowman, are disgruntled at the council’s decision to refer the development application for a high-rise apartment in Earl Street, Albany, to the State Administrative Tribunal. Mr Plowman is the person who made the unfounded complaint to the Corruption and Crime Commission back in January of this year. The Corruption and Crime Commission advised Mr Plowman in March that his complaint would not be pursued by it. This fact, however, did not stop Hon Robyn McSweeney subsequently making a statement to the Legislative Council on 4 April in which she said - People have told me that councillors have been threatened. A complaint has been lodged with the Corruption and Crime Commission in response to one councillor’s alleged actions. Hon Robyn McSweeney repeated her statement on 11 April to GWN news. This is nothing short of scurrilous, and the Leader of the Opposition knows it. Hon Robyn McSweeney would have been fully aware that the complaint to the Corruption and Crime Commission had gone nowhere, but instead chose to abuse the processes of the Corruption and Crime Commission to do the bidding of a property developer. We changed the law to allow the fact that a matter had been referred to the Corruption and Crime Commission to be made public. This was not done to allow members of Parliament to use parliamentary privilege and to mislead the public over a matter that has already been dismissed as being without substance by the Corruption and Crime Commission. The Mayor of Albany wrote to the Leader of the Opposition on 18 April to express her concern and utter dismay at the impact on the council and to demand an apology. In the letter Mayor Allison Goode wrote - Many of the statements made in Mrs McSweeney’s address are patently incorrect . . . . . . The Council has acted legally and appropriately in the application . . . . . . . . . ill advised and ill-informed intervention by a State Politician in what is a local planning process is unnecessary, unwarranted and inappropriate. . . . In future should members of your team wish to make allegations about Council, they should at least give the City the opportunity to provide a briefing on what are the actual facts of the matter at hand. I table the letter from the Mayor of Albany to the Leader of the Opposition and call upon the Leader of the Opposition to demand an apology from his member. [See paper 1514.]
. . . The Council has acted legally and appropriately in the application . . . . . . . . . ill advised and ill-informed intervention by a State Politician in what is a local planning process is unnecessary, unwarranted and inappropriate. . . . In future should members of your team wish to make allegations about Council, they should at least give the City the opportunity to provide a briefing on what are the actual facts of the matter at hand.
. . . . . . ill advised and ill-informed intervention by a State Politician in what is a local planning process is unnecessary, unwarranted and inappropriate. . . . In future should members of your team wish to make allegations about Council, they should at least give the City the opportunity to provide a briefing on what are the actual facts of the matter at hand.
. . . ill advised and ill-informed intervention by a State Politician in what is a local planning process is unnecessary, unwarranted and inappropriate. . . . In future should members of your team wish to make allegations about Council, they should at least give the City the opportunity to provide a briefing on what are the actual facts of the matter at hand.
. . . In future should members of your team wish to make allegations about Council, they should at least give the City the opportunity to provide a briefing on what are the actual facts of the matter at hand.
[See paper 1514.]
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