A code of conduct complaint against councillors Robyn Bain and Mitchell Nadin has been dismissed by the acting general manager Anthony Basford.
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Australasia advocate Amanda Midlam made the code of conduct complaint against the councillors after exchanges on social media following council’s decision to offer the hotel for sale again.
But Mr Basford said he had determined there wasn’t a breach and that the matter “did not warrant escalation to the complaints co-ordinator” as it was not a matter relating to pecuniary interests, or conflicts of interest.
The complaint was obviously frivolous and I’m glad it’s ended up in the rubbish bin.
- Cr Mitchell Nadin
Ms Midlam made a formal complaint following a Facebook thread discussing the future of the Australasia.
Cr Nadin has welcomed the decision by Mr Basford.
“The complaint was obviously frivolous and I’m glad it’s ended up in the rubbish bin before any more time or money was spent on it,” Cr Nadin said.
Cr Bain said that normally a councillor would not comment about code of conduct matters but in this case the matter was made public by an email that Ms Midlam sent to all councillors, council’s general manager Leanne Barnes and Fairfax Media.
“Yes there is a code of conduct for councillors and there is also an unwritten code of conduct for life in general that you treat people with respect and don’t bully and bludgeon them,” Cr Bain said.
“I respect Amanda has a different point of view to me on the Hotel Australasia. There’s no law that I have to answer her questions; yes I am a councillor, but I am also a human being.”
Cr Nadin said he blocked Ms Midlam (on social media) because he found her comments “so obnoxious and unfair”.
Ms Midlam was contacted for a comment.