DAVID FARMER'S STATEMENT TO ICAC

On 4 March 2008, I, David Brian Farmer, of 41 Burelli Street, Wollongong, state:

1. I was appointed as the General Manager of Wollongong City Council on 4 June 2007.

2. I was the Assistant General Manager of Mudgee Shire Council between 1996 and 1998, its General Manager between 1998 and 2000, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Cairns City Council between 2000 and 2007.

3. I, and many councillors and staff of the Council, have been astonished and appalled by the revelations of this public inquiry. It has brought to light conduct that is unforgivable, and that I will never tolerate or excuse.

4. I acknowledge that one consequence of the conduct that has been revealed is that the Council must regain the trust and confidence of the people it represents and serves, and those in business and government with whom it deals. There is no more urgent task facing the Council. I realise that the only way in which this can be done is to ensure that in everything it does the Council is open, ethical, honest and fair. I accept that it is my responsibility, by the leadership that 1 must give as the General Manager of the Council, to put these principles at the forefront of the Council's work.

5. Soon after taking up my appointment, I stated, publicly and to the Council's staff, that my position as the new General Manager, was that the Council was ``not an organisation that has or will support corruption or the perception of corruption, and we will continue to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure inappropriate behaviour is identified and dealt with.''

6. To that end, the Council has made reforms to its systems and policies of administration, governance and ethics, and to the rules and instruments by which applications for development approval are assessed. There is a detailed account of these reforms in other statements and material that have been provided to the Commission. Once this inquiry has concluded, my priority will be to continue to entrench these reforms, and to make continued improvements. As part of this programme, I will give careful consideration to any report of the Commission so that any further weaknesses in the Council's systems and policies are identified and appropriately addressed.

7. A lesson that I have so far drawn from the inquiry is that steps that need to be continued include: (a) effective leadership, which, unlike much of that which has been examined in this inquiry, will model, demonstrate and reinforce the conduct required by the Council; (b) strengthening the system for receiving and dealing with complaints of inappropriate conduct, so that it becomes robust and secure, and gives proper confidence and support to complainants; (c) reviewing and strengthening auditing and investigation of processes and conduct in all of the Council's regulatory activities, including planning; and (d) demonstrating to staff and the wider community that Council's systems and controls are being made robust and effective, and that, when inappropriate conduct is detected, it will be dealt with swiftly and firmly.

8. I have no doubt that the revelations of this inquiry have shaken the confidence and morale of many of the Council's staff. Many rightly feel betrayed. In my view, it is important to acknowledge that more than 1200 staff serve the Council and the people of Wollongong honestly and ethically. My responsibility is to support them in doing so by ensuring that they are guided by rules and principles of conduct that are clear and coherent, and that are strictly, impartially and fairly enforced. This inquiry has demonstrated to the Council's staff consequences of departing from the standards of conduct required by the Council. Currently, all of the Council's staff, including me, are undertaking compulsory further training in ethical conduct following the adoption of the Council's recently revised Code of Conduct.

9. One problem that has been demonstrated in the course of the inquiry is that the planning schemes under which the Council's planners once worked were old and difficult to apply to many of the assessments that they had to make. That has been addressed, so that planners now, or will soon, have contemporary planning schemes for all areas. My approach is that planners should be left to exercise their own discretion and judgment without inappropriate interference, with a proper balance between outcome and process. In this regard, it is important to recognise that planning should allow for the exercise by qualified planners of subjective judgments that, in an appropriate case, can give vitality to the city.

10. After the Commissioner drew attention to section 74C of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 on 29 February 2008 (Transcript page 806 lines 4 to 22), and stated that ``it is highly relevant to this inquiry... to know just how Wollongong is functioning at the present time" (Transcript page 807 lines 41 to 43), I instructed that the following matters should be put before the Commissioner for his consideration:

(a) The Council has 13 elected councillors.

(b) Councillors Esen, Gigliotti, and Jonovski took leave of absence early in the course of this inquiry, and remain on leave now, pending - as I understand their position - the Commission's report.

(c) Councillor Zanotto took leave of absence after the conclusion of the hearing in the inquiry on 29 February 2008.

(d) While on leave of absence none of Councillors Esen, Gigliotti, Jonovski and, now, Zanotto have participated in any business of the Council, although at present they continue to be entitled to all the rights and privileges of their office, including to receive their emoluments, to attend the Council's premises and to use the offices provided for them in those premises.

(e) The conduct of Councillors Esen, Gigliotti, Jonovski and Zanotto in taking leave of absence is entirely voluntary and is not binding on them.

(f) Councillors Esen, Gigliotti, Jonovski and Zanotto were elected in the interest of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), with three other councillors.

(g) Councillor Jonovski gave evidence in this inquiry on 29 February 2008 that one such councillor ``actually have went (sic) Independent" (Transcript page 791 lines 10 and 11).

(h) I take this to be a reference to Councillor Anthony Kent, who to my understanding has not participated in a caucus of ALP councillors since about November 2007.

i) I understand there might have been a question as to whether Councillors Esen, Gigliotti, Jonovski and Zanotto would presently be entitled to participate in a caucus of ALP councillors, even if they returned from leave of absence.

j) The term of the present elected councillors expires by no later than 27 September 2008, when an election is presently scheduled.

(k) An election costs the Council at least $1 million, and requires considerable management and staff time and work.

(1) A quorum for any meeting of councillors is seven.

(m) The Council can continue to meet and transact and conclude its business in the absence of Councillors Esen, Gigliotti, Jonovski and Zanotto, and, in my judgement, could continue to function properly and effectively at least until the forthcoming election.

(n) One matter that would require attention is that, in the absence of Councillors Esen and Jonovski, one ward would be without an elected representative, but steps could be taken to address this and ensure that the ward can be properly represented.

11. It is my position, and I have told the Council's staff, that this inquiry ``presents an important opportunity to demonstrate to our community the organisation's commitment to operating transparently, openly and honestly, with any misconduct viewed with great seriousness and swift action." I have asked them to ``support that demonstration ... through sustained achievement and endeavour for the benefit of our city."