By Sharon Webb

THE TASMANIAN Local Government Division has given a slap on the wrist to Meander Valley Council mayor, Wayne Johnston, because he voted to allocate himself a fully maintained council vehicle for his private use. The Meander Area Residents and Ratepayers Association officially complained to the division after Cllr Johnston voted on the matter in the March 2019 council meeting. In a reply to MARRA president Bodhi McSweeney, dated 21 November 2019, the Director of Local Government, Alex Tay, wrote that Cllr Johnston ‘voted on a matter in which he had a pecuniary interest as defined by section 49 of the Local Government Act … and further, that he failed to declare a pecuniary interest as required by the act.’ While upholding the complaint, Mr Tay decided it was not in the public interest to take legal action against Cllr Johnston. He wrote, ‘Mayor Johnston was fully cooperative during the investigation and I am confident there is a sufficient deterrence from any further breaches.’ However Cllr Johnston is required to complete training in the area of pecuniary interest by March this year. Cllr Johnston acknowledged that he’d made a mistake in voting on the car.

‘I should have stepped out of the room when the vote was on. I don’t know why I didn’t. I’ll learn from it,’ he said. Last March, Meander Valley councillors unanimously voted Cllr Johnston a car for work and private use, amounting to around $30,000 for the car and maintenance in the first year of use. The mayor needed the car, Cllr Frank Nott said at the time, because of the distances and types of functions involved in representing Meander Valley Council, which covers 3,821 square kilometres. ‘If we are to uphold the status of mayor we must have a vehicle of standing, something with status. Not a ute,’ he said. The general manager at the time, Martin Gill, said, ‘Access to a vehicle reflects the expectation that a mayor’s role will include travel, to attend regional meetings, to meet with state government and ministers, and to attend community events throughout the local government area.’ For the past three mayors the council had a policy that only travel mileage would be paid, he said. Currently, larger neighbouring municipalities Northern Midlands (5130 sq kms), Central Highlands (8010 sq kms) do not provide a car for their mayor; nor does Kentish Council (1187 sq kms) although West Tamar Council (710 sq kms) does.

Meander Valley Council policy now states that the council is to make a fully maintained

mayoral vehicle available to the mayor, when representing council at meetings, functions and other activities. The policy states, ‘The allocated vehicle is for use by the mayor when attending council related activities and may also be used for private purposes.’ In addition to expenses and a car, Meander Valley Council’s mayor is paid an allowance of $37,389, while each councillor gets $15,137.