Cr Mick Morland: “The councillor should have a chance to clear his name through the proper authority.”MY mind went back to Mark Antony: “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.”
Things probably haven’t changed much since those Roman days.
Tuesday 19 August in Casey days.
Oatlands Ward councillor Mick Morland: “This is a very serious allegation and we need to clear this away by going to the right authority.
“If we put this behind closed doors we would be doing an injustice to the councillor and the council,” he said.
Cr Morland is right, the councillor is entitled to a fair hearing.
He stands accused and the matter must be brought to account one way or the other.
Four Oaks Ward councillor Roland Abraham is again under a cloud as police investigate claims that he altered an email sent from Ballarat University.
My view is that someone altered the email to substantiate a struggling claim for $3600 to repay the cost of a business management course.
The money was to come from Cr Abraham’s conference and training allowance account, but needed full council approval.
Inquiries about the business management course showed little evidence of it being local government oriented.
It was a dumb thing to do.
Cr Abraham should have made his request for the money and had it settled before committing himself to $3600.
Initially the request for the money was another ‘ho hum’ ask for a conference and training expenses claim.
Probably most, like me, thought that one way or another his Labor mates would have put their hands up to give him the cash.
I thought at the time that worse things had happened.
Also, Myuna Ward councillor Brian Oates’ new look Casey ethics committee is putting hellish pressure on Casey chief executive Mike Tyler to be sure that no senior officer spends a cent out of order.
Who can blame Tyler if he peeps at every document coming through the place with a dollar sign on it?
Cr Abraham’s claim was looking a little dodgy and debate wasn’t really going his way so why wouldn’t the chief executive look closely at his email/s.
“Yes,” Cr Abraham claimed, there was a strong local government component in the business management course.
“I’ve given the chief executive an email,” he said.
He said the email was private and it was then that the chief executive agreed and said it could only be discussed in camera.
Then the dirt hit the fan.
“It appears there were two email texts, one asking the councillor to get his first assignment in within two weeks and another that was couched in terms that would support the $3600 claim.
Could it be, also carrying the same time?
The council decided to refer this to the Minister for Local Government, but Cr Morland submitted a rescission motion that stopped that action.
Cr Morland, Casey mayor Neil Lucas, Balla Balla Ward councillor Colin Butler, and Strathard Ward councillor Lorraine Wreford then went to the police.
They had a strong enough prima facie case to cause a police investigation into how the email was altered.
Cr Morland said during debate on the rescission motion that the altered email indicated a potential criminal action that should have been reported to the police.
Araluen Ward councillor Rob Wilson said he was concerned because despite the council decision to refer the matter to the minister, the mayor led a delegation to the police.
“I have a big concern about that process.
“It was clearly wrong because going to the police was a serious breech.
“To lay a complaint to the police means that in camera information has been passed on.”
Cr Lucas said his position was that the matter warranted an investigation by the correct authority. Cr Morland said he thought about it and decided that once he lodged the rescission motion there was no motion to go against.
“This is a very serious allegation and we need to clear it by going to the right authority,” he said.
On the face of things Cr Morland’s rescission motion, and his comment that putting the matter behind closed doors would rob the councillor of a chance to clear his name of wrong doing, could let him off.
If the police decide not to act there is a high probability that the issue will evaporate.
My view, however, is that there is good reason to believe that charges will be laid on this matter because four councillors would hardly have gone to the police without first receiving legal advice.
It seems that Cr Morland, in holding out the olive branch and providing Cr Abraham a pathway to quickly clear away the allegations, would turn Mark Antony’s famous words about. Perhaps: “I come to praise Cr Abraham, but will bury him.”
