Kiama Councillors Jodi Keast, Kathy Rice and Karen Renkema-Lang are demanding Kiama Council release a letter from the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) which informs the Council that the ICAC will not investigate them.

Kiama Council referred the Councillors to the ICAC in May 2024. The three Kiama Councillors state that they know of no grounds which would justify referring them to the ICAC.

Clr Keast said, “We have now been informed in a very brief email from Council that it has received correspondence from the ICAC stating that it is declining to investigate us. We have requested that the Council provides a full copy of the correspondence from the ICAC. We want to know when the Council received the advice from the ICAC, how long it took the Council to inform us, and what the ICAC letter actually said.”

Clr Keast continued, “This Council should take steps towards increased transparency and release this correspondence to the Councillors who are personally affected. It is outrageous that Council still has a media release on its website proclaiming that it has referred three Councillors to the ICAC and yet for an unknown period of time has had correspondence from the ICAC that it won’t investigate those Councillors.”

The three Kiama Councillors said they really appreciated an earlier letter written by ICAC Commissioner The Hon. John Hazsistergos, that was tabled at the August Council meeting. The letter warned current Councillors and registered Candidates that “public statements that matters have been referred to the Commission… irrespective of whether there is a reasonable basis for such an allegation, may cause political damage, and such allegations should not be used as a weapon to level at a political rival. The weaponisation of the Commission for political advantage… is inappropriate.”

Clr Kathy Rice states, “A referral to ICAC should be done silently so that proper process can occur, and the reputations of individuals can be protected should their referral be found to be unsubstantiated. Ever since hearing in the media that I had been referred to the ICAC by Council I have been troubled by the motivation behind the leak and I have experienced unfair public suspicion.”

“Without firm evidence, there was little basis for suspecting us of inappropriate behaviour as the ICAC assessment has now shown”.

“I urge voters to examine this situation and make up their own minds at this election to determine how the Council swings. Please value transparency and openness in Council. Please value Council candidates who will prioritise the opinions and values of residents in their decision making at Kiama Council.”

Clr Karen Renkema-Lang states, “For me personally the ICAC referral was the final straw in a very disappointing experience of local government. I was censured by the Council for simply giving my opinion in a radio interview. Fortunately, I was able to have the NSW Supreme Court declare the Council’s censure of me invalid. Council wasted so much of residents' money just trying to silence me. Anthony Whealy KC (the Chair of the Centre for Public Integrity) described the censure as "an ill-considered measure to silence a dissenting Councillor" and said “this censure motion strikes me as susceptible to an inference that it was really designed to shut her up.”

Read the ABC article here.

“The ICAC referral seems to me to be in a similar vein, i.e. it was not based on any apparent reasonable evidence and was unjustified.”

All three Councillors call for Council to supply them with the official ICAC correspondence, to remove any reference to the ICAC referral from its website, and for there to be an external review of the governance procedures that led to the leakage of this sensitive information.

Kiama Council were contacted for comment, and said that they "cannot comment on current Councillors or candidates during caretaker period, as per our Local Government elections (caretaker period provisions) policy."