Today’s revelations by the ABC of a serious conflict of interest involving Liberal Braddon candidate and Latrobe Deputy Mayor Vonette Mead is a damning indictment on Jeremy Rockliff’s judgement.
The ABC report details allegations that Ms Mead’s failure to declare a conflict of interest involving a multi-million dollar tender her company MeadCon submitted to the Latrobe council.
It would appear the Liberal party knew about this issue prior to preselecting Cr Mead, yet still went ahead with her preselection.
The whole thing is symptomatic of a party and government in decay after 10 years in office.
There is an Integrity Commission Investigation codenamed ‘Columba’ underway which states: “Failure by elected representative and senior manager to declare and manage conflicts of interest in procurement”.
This latest sorry episode is in addition to:
- Mr Rockliff’s repeated refusal to answer questions about whether two sitting members are being investigated by the Integrity Commission;
- Mr Rockliff’s endorsement of his Bass anti-vaxxer candidate Dr Julie Sladden; and
- Mr Rockliff’s endorsement of his Franklin climate science denier candidate Aldo Antolli.
There’s a rotten stench about the Liberal party in Tasmania. After 10 years in their time’s up and they’ve got to go.
Dean Winter MP
