Perth Voice Interactive

SEVEN of eight Perth city councillors are sticking by Lisa Scaffidi in the wake of the CCC’s findings against her of serious misconduct and misconduct.

In sticking steadfastly to the besieged lord mayor, the seven also appear to be ignoring premier Colin Barnett, who has said that if one of his ministers had behaved in a similar fashion he’d have been “probably looking for a resignation”.

“As deputy lord mayor of the City of Perth, I, Rob Butler along with fellow councillors Jim Adamos, Lily Chen, Janet Davidson OAM JP, James Limnios, Judy McEvoy and Keith Yong, give our united and full support for Lisa Scaffidi—our current lord mayor,” the seven councillors state in their letter.

“We are so proud of our collective achievements under her leadership and vision and fully support her candidacy as lord mayor for a further term. She is a woman of integrity and a strong leader.

“Lisa’s focus has been fully on the economic, social and cultural development of the city for the benefit of its citizens and stakeholders and our work as a committed team is not yet finished.”

The eighth councillor—lord mayoral challenger Reece Harley—was not asked to sign. He hasn’t commented on the CCC report beyond saying “CCC reports are serious matters and I will not be making any statements about these issues at this time”.

Four incumbent councillors are up for re-election—Crs Adamos, Butler, Chen and Davidson.

by DAVID BELL

LISA SCAFFIDI told the CCC her Facebook posts and Twitter tweets during her travels amounted to “public disclosure”. Ms Scaffidi, whose Twitter feed is peppered with photos of her travels, did not declare contributions in the relevant year for her travel to:

TAIPEI in 2008 (with a contribution by the Taiwanese government);

SINGAPORE in 2010 (contribution by Perth convention centre);

SHANGHAI in 2010 (contribution by Foreign Affairs Department and Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Co-ordination);

NANJING in 2010 (contribution by Nanjing Municpal People’s Government Foreign Affairs Office);

KAGOSHIMA in 2011 (contribution by 31st Joint Conference on Medical Informatics);

DUBAI in 2012 (contribution by Informa Conferences Saudi Arabia);

NEW YORK in October 2013 (contribution by Bloomberg).

The CCC says “in respect of some of the travel where the third party disclosure was not declared, Mrs Scaffidi nominated what she described as ‘other public disclosure’. This included Facebook posts and Tweets”.

Ms Scaffidi said she wasn’t using social media at the time of the Beijing Olympics and conceded the media didn’t know of the trip until the story broke in 2009.

The commission said it considered whether this constant pattern of “extensive non-disclosure of third party contributions to travel illustrates a misunderstanding by Mrs Scaffidi as to her disclosure obligations relative to the Olympic hospitality package”.

“The commission’s assessment is that it is more probably than not that, having regard to all the material including her many contradictory statements, the failure to disclose was deliberate.”

FORMER Perth lord mayoral candidate Mike O’Hanlon has switched his support from Reece Harley to Lisa Scaffidi.

He initially withdrew from the race because he didn’t want to split the “progressive” vote between himself and Mr Harley in the first past the post race.

“With Reece in charge we can look forward to a far more transparent local government and that means better opportunities for everybody,” he’d said when pulling out.

Mr O’Hanlon even donated advertising space he’d booked to Mr Harley (which has been repaid following the support switch). On Friday he posted a statement advising of his change of heart.

“If this surprises you half as much as it surprised me, you’ll be bloody surprised,” he wrote.

“I have put a bunch of effort into thinking about the role of mayor in this city.

“Reece and I have a lot in common and my decision to step aside was made with the intention to support his campaign.

“Indeed, I gifted Reece some advertising that I’d paid for. I think he is a good guy.

“I met with Lisa the other day to speak about the future of the city. We agree about some things. We disagree about some other things.

“I’ll continue to get in Lisa’s ear about the things that I think need to change but this election, I’ll be voting for Lisa Scaffidi.”

Mr O’Hanlon explained that since pulling out of the race he’d shifted his perspective from that of a candidate to that of a voter.

“I started to think critically about both candidates. My day- to-day responsibilities and the concerns of the people that work with me, here at 143 Barrack Street.”

He says the issues Cr Harley is raising — cutting red tape and licence fees for alfresco dining and supporting a more bike-friendly city — are small fry compared to “the core issue of what this city needs to do, to salvage the current situation regarding the big fat fucking dip in our economy”.

“I’m up to my neck in personal financial risk, associated with technology-related ventures,” he says. “I want the sort of mayor that understands the value of these projects… that create world-class jobs right here in Perth. The tech sector will fill the gap that iron ore has left, but only if it is nurtured correctly. If we miss this opportunity, I fear that we’ll lose a lot.”

No problem

He says, “I have no problem with Reece. People are asking me ‘what did he do’ or ‘what happened’. What happened is, I thought about the issue further and decided to make a statement reflecting new information that had come to hand. The city has a $2 billion balance sheet. I’m voting for the mayor that will best address the concerns of myself and people like me.”

Regarding the findings of the CCC against Ms Scaffidi, he says, “the whole Beijing thing is an embarrassment for everybody”.

“Sometimes I think City of Perth should be called City of Facepalm. I don’t think any of it is cool. I think the issue is serious but the situation is workable. To me, that fucking cactus thing at Forrest Place is a bigger crime. That bloody thing cost us a million bucks.”

He says more transparency and accountability is needed but people should save their outrage for bigger issues like coal and torture.

Mr O’Hanlon had offered Ms Scaffidi the remaining advertising space he had booked but she declined it, saying she’d “prefer you give them to a worthy cause”.

by DAVID BELL

LISA SCAFFIDI “signally failed in her duties” as Perth lord mayor by not disclosing several gifts and travel packages, the WA corruption and crime commission has found in a report that rocked Perth this week.

In addition to a big hospitality package to the Beijing Olympics from mining giant BHP, the CCC reveals property developer Hawaiian Investments offered the lord mayor three nights’ accommodation in Broome with husband Joe Scaffidi. At the time Hawaiian had been part of a consortium seeking $180,000 from the city.

“Mrs Scaffidi did not even make an impartiality declaration,” the CCC notes in its explosive report. “It should have been obvious to Mrs Scaffidi that Hawaiian as part of the BID consortium would benefit from the City’s approval of $180,000.”

The CCC report released Monday October 5 finds “serious misconduct” relating to the failure to disclose those gifts. The decision now rests with the WA local government department as to whether to take action against Ms Scaffidi, who is seeking re-election.

WA local government minister Tony Simpson stopped short of calling for her sacking but echoed premier Colin Barnett in noting a member of Cabinet would have been sacked for similar conduct.

Ms Scaffidi also did not declare free tickets, food and accommodation for Chris Isaak tickets, worth more than $600 (anything higher than $300 must be declared if “the donor is undertaking or intending to undertake an activity that requires council authorisation”).

Ms Scaffidi says she’d asked then-CEO Frank Edwards if she was allowed to accept the gifts and he’d given her the okay, but the commission determined she was ultimately responsible for her actions.

The report noted that Mr Edwards had co-operated with Ms Scaffidi to keep details of her Olympic visit secret from other councillors for fear it could be used against her, and he’d worked up a declaration of interest for her that “camouflaged” the true nature of the trip. The lord mayor had later used that declaration to publicly state the Perth city council had approved her trip.

The commission “did not determine that Mrs Scaffidi had acted corruptly”.

In a written statement in response to the CCC’s finding, Ms Scaffidi says “I accept I failed to comply with the relevant provisions of the local government act, and for that I am truly and deeply apologetic”.

But she also says “would I do the same again? The answer is absolutely, it is my work, all in the line of duty”.

“But as a result of the report’s findings I am now acutely aware of the relevant provisions of the local government act and the need to comply with the law.”

Ms Scaffidi says BHP invited “many key representatives of the WA government and business community to attend to ensure that their presence at the Beijing Olympics had the required status to suitably impress the senior Chinese representatives present”.

However, premier Colin Barnett says, “I don’t see there was any benefit to the state out of that and at any rate it was too expensive, very much a personal thing and the failure to declare was a problem”.

WHY plant quaint English pansies everywhere when we have beautiful kangaroo paws on hand, Perth lord mayoral candidate Reece Harley asks.

He wants to extend the native flavour of King’s Park down into the city by putting native plants in the garden beds and parks.

Cr Harley says tourists flock here to experience Australia and instead we serve up foreign species: “Our public places should be teeming with banksias, kangaroo paws and grass-trees rather than petunias and pansies. Our streets should be lined with shady evergreen natives, keeping us cool and inviting native birds and insects back into the heart of our city.

“This is about branding Perth to the world as the gateway to all of WA’s natural beauty.”

He says he’s not calling for the axe to be taken to existing trees but any new projects should go native. Local plants don’t require as much water or fertiliser, and make for better habitats for native wildlife.

And while many still believe native plants to be scratchy and grey he says they’ll soon learn there’s plenty of colour, variety and scent on offer.

The native strategy’s been used by the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority in rejuvenating the artificial pond in the Perth cultural centre, which is now filled with aquatic plants and plenty of happy frogs hiding among them. Como the Treasury hotel’s also filled its planter boxes with natives, and named its rooftop restaurant “Wildflower,” having brought Nyoongar elder Richard Walley in to consult on their designs.

Cr Harley says swapping the planting cycle over to the six seasons observed by Nyoongar people would be another way to stamp a unique local flavour on the city.

He says the King’s Park board does good work and the council could tap into its knowledge for advice on what plants would work in the city’s parks and streets.

by DAVID BELL