Cash comment 'wrong'
MAYOR Val Schier now disagrees with a $17,000 council report that found it had been "appropriate" to buy radio time to allow her to speak to the public.
Cr Schier last night disputed the findings of a secret investigation into her appearance on John Mackenzie’s 4CA talk-back radio slot each Friday.
"I don’t agree with the (report’s) first conclusion that it was an OK thing to do," Cr Schier said.
"I don’t ever think that ratepayers should be paying for elected representatives to talk to the
community."
Her criticism of the summary of the secret report follows Cairns Regional Council CEO Noel Briggs on Wednesday saying there was no case to answer over the council’s cash-for-comment deal with Prime Radio.
Since then, key figures have refused to back down on the decision to keep the $17,000 independent report under wraps.
Mr Briggs and Cr Schier steadfastly refuse to reveal any more about lawyer Jim Henry’s report or the name of the council staffer against whom allegations were made in the report.
However, council sources confirmed to The Cairns Post that communications manager Kerie Hull is the person referred to in Mr Henry’s report.
The central issue is whether she did or did not tell Cr Schier she had brokered a commercial arrangement for her to speak on Mackenzie’s program.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority regulations require a radio station to tell listeners if a person speaking on radio has paid for the air time.
No such disclosure was made when the mayor appeared on her slot on 4CA, despite an arrangement under which the council was apparently to have paid $250 a week.
Mr Briggs said he would not comment on what actions he could or would take against the "staff member" named in the report.
A News Ltd spokeswoman for the Right to Know coalition, Creina Chapman, said councils must be fully accountable to their ratepayers on how the council is being run and how their money is being spent.
"Ratepayers have the right to know what behind closed doors deals the council are doing, how much money they’re spending on these deals, how much they’re now spending investigating the deals and the full results of any investigation into the deals," Ms Chapman said.
The Cairns Post has indicated it will seek access to the $17,000 report under Freedom of Information laws, but the council has suggested the report is exempt under legal professional privilege.
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