Australia, March 12 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on Feb. 13:

1. The respondent was a local councillor between 1983 and 2024; first at Rockdale City Council and then, since 2017, at Bayside Council (the Council). He was mayor from 2018 to 2024.

2. On 27 March 2024, the Deputy Secretary made a referral to the Tribunal under s 440J(2)(b) of the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW) (LG Act), with a cover letter and a report entitled Misconduct Departmental Report, dated March 2024 (the Departmental Report). The Deputy Secretary indicated in his letter that he was satisfied, on the basis of the Departmental Report, that the respondent engaged in misconduct, as defined in s 440F(1) of the LG Act. The applicant stated his view that the Tribunal is best placed to make a determination in relation to the alleged misconduct and that it is in the public interest for the matter to be subject to a hearing by the Tribunal.

3. On 21 June 2024 the Tribunal determined to conduct proceedings, pursuant to s 470A of the LG Act.

4. By the time of the hearing, the respondent was no longer a councillor. Nevertheless, the facts the subject of the Complaint occurred whilst the respondent was a councillor and these proceedings are therefore apposite. Section 440N(4) of the LG Act provides that the referral of the matter to the Tribunal applies in the same way as it applies to a councillor.

5. The context of the investigation is that in August 2017, the Council resolved to conduct an expression of interest (EOI) process to address a parking shortfall in Brighton-Le-Sands. In February 2018, following an evaluation process, Council rejected all expressions of interest. Relevantly however, a subsequent draft planning proposal (the Proposal) was provided by The Boulevarde Oasis Pty Ltd (the Company), which was considered. Ultimately, the Proposal was rejected.

6. The Amended Grounds for Application, filed 05 November 2024 (the Complaint), comprise 3 Grounds. The gravamen of the Complaint is that the respondent had a close personal relationship with a person who was involved in the management of the Company, Mr Al Abrahim, also known as Mr Ali Ibrahim (the Director). The applicant further contends that the respondent failed to properly disclose and manage his conflict of interest and engaged in inappropriate conduct towards Council officers at the meetings where the Proposal was discussed, contravening the requirements of the Council's 2016 and 2019 Code of Conduct (2016 Code) (2019 Code) in force at the relevant times.

*Rest of the document and Footnotes can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/194aa6b92423acd3fc62170d)

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