Shoalhaven City Councll will meet today to discuss its response to a draft performance improvement order (POI) which has flagged State Government oversight of Council recruitment practices following the appointment of former State Treasurer, Andrew Constance, to the role of General Manager in October last year.
The draft order from NSW Local Government Minister, Ron Hoenig, states there is sufficient evidence to raise questions about the transparency, impartiality and integrity of the Council’s recruitment processes.
According to the draft PIO, the OLG will now have oversight of the recruitment of “all senior council leadership positions” from the manager and above.
In an extraordinary meeting today, councillors will discuss a Council submission to the Minister and the actions required to improve performance.
“I have been saying for years that we need to make changes, and I strongly endorse and welcome any move by the Minister to have improved oversight of the Council through the required actions of an improvement order,” said Mayor, Patricia White.
“I hope that fellow Councillors will join me in welcoming the need to accept the order’s required improvement actions as they specifically relate to restructures that happened in 2024 and 2025, and any future appointments between now and year’s end.
“While the order is only in draft form at this stage, I support any moves by the Government to improve the sector and the operation of the Council as it relates to staffing recruitment at senior leadership level.”
Mayor White said she has raised concerns about the Government’s claims in Schedule 1 of the draft order regarding Mr Constance’s appointment and has written to the OLG seeking evidence.
“Evidence must be provided by the Government under Section 438 (B) (2) NSW and at this stage no such evidence has been provided,” she said.
“I am very confident in the processes that have been followed and would call for the release of all information as it relates to the proposed order.
“Councillors will need this information to guide the Council’s drafting of a submission to the Minister.
“I would again reiterate that the Council is now embracing positive change including improvements with a new and very stable executive leadership team, improved financial management and great service delivery.
“We have fantastic professional men and women on our staff doing incredible work for the community and they don’t need their workplace harmed by unfair criticism of political critics of the organisation,” she said.
The Council has 14 days to respond with submissions to the Minister.
The proposed order will be discussed at an Extraordinary Meeting at 11am today at the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre and can be viewed online via Council’s website.
