State Government tells Hedland council to implement ‘improvement plan’ once more amid fractured relations

For the second time in five years, the State Government has stepped in to help solve problems at the North West Town of Port Hedland. Concerns over relations between councillors and staff at the local authority, and other serious matters relating to council business have prompted the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries to “encourage” the town to prioritise the “urgent” creation of an “improvement plan”. At last week’s ordinary meeting on Wednesday, April 24, councillors voted 7-1 to create and implement the suggested plan to solve matters “relating to governance practices and the breakdown in relationships between council members”. The department sent a letter to the council last month detailing its findings following a visit to Hedland in February to meet with the town’s executive leadership team, individual councillors, and the council. The letter detailed that matters raised by those who met with department representatives included “a lack of trust between council, council members and town staff”, “excessive duration of council meetings”, and concerns over “current legal action between the mayor and a councillor” being likely to render a working relationship between the two “untenable”. Other matters of concern raised included: a “perceived lack of transparency or alignment with council’s strategic approach in respect of the mayor’s business dealings”; “council members’ unreasonable requests for information or undertaking unauthorised investigations into operational matters”; “appropriateness of the town’s meeting schedule and cycle”; “inappropriate use of council member question time . . . and council member questions”; “appropriateness of council member motions”; “inappropriate use of social media and other media by council members”; and “inappropriate level of delegated authority”. Further concerns were a “lack of agreed expectations in respect of management of risks and contentious issues, crisis management roles, and information dissemination”; and “council member behaviour, conduct and interactions between council members and with town staff, potentially leading to an unsafe workplace and a psychosocial hazard”. Cr Camilo Blanco was the only councillor to vote against the motion on Wednesday, saying the letter was the “start of council going into administration”. While denying he was responsible for many of the issues raised in the letter, many of which he said were highlighted “well before” his current tenure, he admitted that he was the “main culprit” when it came to “asking questions”. Cr Blanco was elected onto the council for a second time last October, and by February 11, he had claimed in a Facebook post that he’d asked “hundreds” of questions relating to financial issues at the council. He added in the post the “downfall of Port Hedland” would in part be driven by “State Government absence and failure to regulate the (local government) sector accordingly”. “What can I say?” Cr Blanco asked as he spoke in opposition to the motion on Wednesday. “It’s amusing. The admin has invited the department to investigate us. Why? “You know, because there’s too many questions around, you know, the financials. And, clearly, the administration doesn’t like that. “So because I’m asking too many questions, obviously I’m probably the main culprit, well ‘let’s get the department involved’. “That is our responsibility as members to (ask questions). So I don’t believe that I’m doing anything wrong in that respect. “Because this is our mandate as elected representatives to see the effective and efficient financial management of the town’s money. “So, you know, this management letter is . . . the start of the council going into administration. And if you can’t see that, this is exactly what they’ve done to us previously. “The State Government initiated it because, you know, they didn’t like what was being said, or questions been asked, or State Government being held to account on their responsibilities. “And I see much of the same thing happening here.” Deputy Mayor Ash Christensen, summing up the motion as the one who moved it, said the letter and the improvement plan were opportunities for the council to come together as one team. “On this bench we are not one individual, we are one team,” he said. “Regardless of whether we have made the wrongs or done anything wrong in these letters. “By agreeing to develop an implementation plan, it is the council’s opportunity to actually have a team conversation, agree or disagree with the findings. “But not just that, it doesn’t limit us to what the findings have been from the letter, it allows us also to extend and go further to address other concerns and issues we have internally to be able to address that.” Cr Blanco was Hedland’s mayor in 2019 when the State Government last stepped in to manage issues within the town. All councillors were suspended, with former State MP Fred Riebeling appointed as commissioner, administering the town’s affairs for more than a year. Then-local government minister David Templeman said the suspension was because of ongoing complaints and concerns lodged over 18 months amid allegations of dysfunction and poor decision-making. Current Mayor Peter Carter was also on the council at the time of the suspension. It was his resignation that eventually triggered the dissolution of the council because of a lack of quorum, prompting an extraordinary election in 2020 at which he gained his current position.