The Corruption and Crime Commission has determined that Lisa Scaffidi signally failed in her duties as Lord Mayor of the City of Perth by not disclosing gifts and contributions to travel in her annual return.
The Commission has formed opinions of serious misconduct relating to Ms Scaffidi’s failure to disclose a hospitality package to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and tickets to the 2009 Leeuwin Concert accepted from BHP Billiton, and a gift of accommodation in Broome for the 2008 Broome Cup accepted from Hawaiian Investments Pty Ltd.
It also formed an opinion of misconduct relating to her acceptance of the Olympics Hospitality Package.
Read more: Scaffidi Stands Down from Duties
The opinions are contained in the Corruption and Crime Commission’s Report on an Investigation into Acceptance and Disclosure of Gifts and Travel Contributions by the Lord Mayor of the City of Perth tabled in State Parliament today (Monday 5 October 2015).
The Commission notes in the report that although it “relates to the actions of the Lord Mayor, there are lessons for all officials in what follows.”
The report states that “Elected officials, both parliamentarians and Local Government councillors, together with many public officers are governed by rules about receipt of gifts and third party contributions to travel.
“To avoid the appearance of bias, gifts worth more than $300 are prohibited if it is reasonable to believe that the donor is undertaking or intending to undertake an activity that requires council authorisation.
“The need to make an annual return is an aspect of open democracy. Anyone can inspect the register. The requirement is a significant accountability measure.”
The Commission did not determine that Mrs Scaffidi had acted corruptly and commended the Lord Mayor for providing additional details of other third party paid travel, when she became aware of the Commission’s investigation. There were no adverse findings in relation to that other travel.