Liverpool City Council under threat of suspension, election delayed over ‘widespread dysfunction’

Liverpool City Council has been placed into administration and its election deferred after a scathing Office of Local Government investigation found evidence of widespread dysfunction in staffing, financial management, development assessments and regulatory probity.

In a damning interim report, OLG announced the evidence obtained by investigators across the past three months was sufficient to hold a public inquiry into the council. Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig announced he has written to the council announcing his intention to suspend the council while the inquiry was ongoing.

Hoenig announced the OLG probe in late April, after former NSW Liberal minister John Ajaka became the council’s 10th permanent or acting CEO to be sacked in eight years, a scenario likened to the machiavellian and murderous plot of Game of Thrones.

Last week, this masthead revealed OLG investigators were concerned council documents had been destroyed by staff, with a missive sent by acting Liverpool Council chief executive Jason Breton warning staff “no records whatsoever are to be destroyed or removed ... until further notice”.

While there remained uncertainty over the exact documents referred to by OLG, first raised in an email to Breton, council sources who spoke to this masthead on the condition of anonymity due to fears of reprisal believed the documents in question were emails relating to planning decisions.

Mannoun has come under scrutiny for his proclivity for hiring Liberal-aligned staff, with Ajaka joining former Liberal MLC Shayne Mallard, who was appointed the director of city futures in August last year. Former Liverpool councillor Tony Hadchiti was employed as the Austral delivery co-ordinator.

Former senior council executives who spoke on the condition of anonymity questioned the eye-watering cost spent on hiring and firing senior staff, saying the turmoil undermined Liverpool Council’s capacity to operate effectively and reputation as an investment destination.

More to come.

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