Councillor Trevor Dance struggled to declare a conflict of interest at a meeting of Hume City Council Monday 9 September – he was interrupted by chair mayor Naim Kurt. It seems Cllr Dance is in conflict with the council, but the details are confidential.
Before that drama kicked off, those watching the proceedings may have been surprised to see two councillors taking part in the meeting remotely. This despite the best efforts of Cllr Carly Moore wanting all councillors to attend the meeting in person.
Two weeks ago, Cllr Moore – backed by Cllr Jarrod Bell – raised a notice of motion in a bid to compel all councillors into the $2.7m chamber for the final two sittings of the current council. This was agreed by the majority of councillors.
However, it seems Cllr Dance, who has previously stated the chamber is not a safe place, submitted a request to council CEO Sheena Frost asking to take part online under council governance rule 77.3. Cllr Haweil applied to attend remotely using rule 77.5 – which covers contagious illness. It seems Ms Frost granted both applications.
As mayor Kurt asked if there were any conflicts of interest, Cllr Dance raised his hand asking if council had fully complied with governance rule 12.1 covering notice of meetings. The council’s recently-appointed governance manager, Holly de Kretser, was asked by mayor Kurt to respond.
De Kretser joined the council in August 2024 having previously served as the City of Casey’s manager corporate governance.
She told councillors there had been a late item sent to councillors Friday: “I believe yes, that we have complied with the notice of meeting.”
Mayor Kurt returned to declarations of interest. This is where councillors say if there is anything on the agenda they may have an interest in. For example, if a councillor is involved in a sports team that’s applied for a council grant.
Cllr Dance spoke to an item listed in the confidential section of the night’s agenda.
He said: “Report item 13.1, a late edition that we got at 1.26pm today (Monday 23 September) with no time to get legal advice…”
Mayor Kurt interrupted saying it was not the time for councillors to speak to items on the agenda.
Cllr Trevor Dance.
Cllr Jodi Jackson alleged procedure was not being followed, and raised a point of order.
The online session went silent for almost a minute until mayor Kurt said her point of order was “not carried”.
Cllr Dance resumed to declare his conflict of interest saying a confidential agenda item includes information about him.
“Council is now by default allowing my personal information to be released under the governance rules on disclosure,” he said. “I need to explain the nature of the conflict of interest otherwise I may have a serious misconduct application made against me.
“I have a general conflict about my case – Trevor Dance verses Hume City Council and the Hume CEO.”
We are none-the-wiser as to the reasons behind agenda item 13.1 or if the upcoming local election will have any baring on the outcome.
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