Ellery accused Zempilas of keeping his property a secret which added to the confusion over his management of what should have been a straightforward approval of a women’s shelter.
“The Lord Mayor’s failure to disclose this conflict of interest before moving to impose extra conditions on the safe night space service doesn’t pass the pub test,” she said.
“He added conditions that are directly related to the amenity of the local area – the area that he has a personal property interest in.
“Protecting vulnerable homeless women should be a straightforward proposition – the Lord Mayor needs to explain his actions and failure to be transparent with Western Australians.”
Zempilas refuted the government’s claims he deliberately did not declare his property.
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He said when Ruah’s first application for the James Street property came up in 2022 he declared an impartiality interest out of an abundance of caution but had received advice from the city since that the property did not require disclosure.
“I declared an impartiality interest until I was able to check with the city governance team on,” he said.
“In doing, so I was told I did not have to declare proximity or impartiality because none existed and therefore made no further declarations in relation to this matter.”
According to local government disclosure of interest guidelines proximity interests only apply if a use of land application is applied to a property that adjoins land owned by a councillor.
Impartiality interests are more opaque with the Department of Local Government, Sport and Culture offering the following advice to councillors:
“If you were to participate in assessment or decision-making without disclosing an interest, would you be comfortable if the public or your colleagues became aware of your association or connection with an individual or organisation?” it said.
“Do you think there would be a later criticism of a perceived undisclosed interest if you were not to disclose?”
Impartiality interests do not require councillors to leave meetings or preclude them from voting on items.
“Following disclosure of an interest affecting impartiality, the member’s involvement in the meeting continues as if no interest existed. This recognises that everyone has interests and relationships which affect the way they think and feel,” the department said.
Source Agencies
