AN attempt to reveal the identity of a councillor who cost Orange City Council $26,460 to investigate code of conduct complaints through statutory declarations has hit a roadblock.
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Councillors passed a resolution on April 18 asking for a statutory declaration to be prepared for councillors to sign voluntarily, stating they were not responsible for making 24 allegations under the code of conduct.
Twenty-three of them were dismissed and the final one had already been dealt with, but all 12 councillors have publicly denied they were the complainant.
In a report to councillors to be considered on Tuesday night, general manager Garry Styles said legal advice was sought from the NSW Office of Local Government on the statutory declaration request and the department responded it was contrary to requirements to keep complaints confidential.
He has recommended the resolution not be enacted.
“Any councillor doing so individually would be at risk of breaching the code of conduct as identified in the advice from the Office of Local Government,” he said.
Councillor Glenn Taylor, who proposed the statutory declaration, said he was angry when he read the report.
“I’m really at a loss that someone can have their anonymity protected and go ahead and lie and again be protected,” he said.
He said he would investigate having the complainant revealed under state parliamentary privilege where the person revealing the information could be protected from disciplinary action.
“It will eventually come out,” he said.
“That person would be doing this community an enormous favour – the other option is for the person to ‘fess up, it’s got to be one of the 12.”