John Jordan, the general manager of Meander Valley Council has produced his own draft code of conduct for councillors, appearing to be attempting to gazump the state government’s current review of the code.

In his statement attached to the draft code of conduct, John Jordan said the government review would produce an inadequate result.

Meander Valley Council’s draft code of conduct is specific about councillors bullying or harassing staff. 

It emphasises that councillors must respect each other’s views ‘and endeavour to ensure that issues, not personalities, are the focus of debate’. 

It says that councillors must not

* threaten, bully or harass, discriminate against any person

* engage in any prohibited conduct (such as sexual harassment) towards any person

* contact a council employee in relation to council matters unless authorised by the general manager, or 

* direct, pressure or denigrate an employee in relation to the making of decisions or recommendations.

The Gazette has not heard of any councillor involved in these activities and Mr Jordan did not reply to a query asking whether these activities had occurred.

In fact, the reason for Mr Jordan’s involvement in councillor behaviour is unknown, especially when considering the Local Government Act 1993, which clearly states that it is the mayor’s responsibility to oversee the councillors in the performance of their functions and the exercise of their powers.

The general manager is responsible for the employees of the council.

Meander Valley Council’s draft will go to the Minister of Local Government, Roger Jaensch, for his consideration, but the move is curious considering that in 2021, all Tasmanian local councils were invited to join a review of the councillor code of conduct.

Meander Valley Council submitted nothing by the due date of 9 August, unlike 13 other councils, eight individuals, four government departments and the Integrity Commission.

The preamble to the draft code of conduct written by Mr Jordan and the council’s governance officer Jacqui Parker appears to excuse Meander Valley Council’s neglect to place a submission by stating that the government review was inadequate.

Mr Jordan wrote, ‘This is not expected to produce reforms that would satisfy the obligation of this council to align itself with community expectations, set the right internal culture, and to come out strongly in support of employee and community wellbeing. Nor would the expected reforms seem to enable council’s duty of care to be fully discharged. 

‘As an alternative to continuing to await reform, it is suggested that Meander Valley Council demonstrates state-wide leadership by signalling its open support and advocacy for change. 

‘A variation of its own codes of conduct for both staff and councillors is a relatively simple and timely means by which council can lead by example while the sector continues to work on its broader reform agenda.’