Office of Local Government hacked by Russians

Tim Hurst

The heading could equally have been “Councillor behaving badly” but an Order made by Tim Hurst, Deputy Secretary, Local Government, Planning and Policy on 5 February 2021 has such a glaring and demonstrably untrue observation in paragraph 20, that there can be no better explanation than the OLG site having been hacked.

Wagga Wagga Councillor Paul Funnell is one of those rugged individuals who as a councillor believes that he better represents the community by ripping into Council staff when he thinks they need it. And in a public way. He does it regularly, he has been subject to a series of Code of Conduct complaints (including one from us last year) made by other councillors and Council staff. Most recently on 5 February 2021 by Tim Hurst, Deputy Secretary, Local Government, Planning and Policy who made orders against him under the Local Government Act. We know him as the bloke in charge of the Office of Local Government.

Cllr Funnell was ordered to apologise and cease engaging in this unsatisfactory conduct. Here is the Order.

He was directed, “Specifically, to cease engaging in conduct that causes, comprises or involves intimidation or verbal abuse and to cease engaging in conduct that is overbearing or threatening to Council staff” and that he “apologise to Council staff and councillors for inappropriate behaviour towards them on 19 November 2018”. Doesn’t he sound a charmer.

He was suspended as a Councillor from 19 February until 18 March 2021.

There have been so many complaints (and the complaints are done largely confidentially so it’s hard to be too authoritative) but earlier on 25 November 2019 he was censured for a breach of the Code by the Council for his treatment of a fellow councillor in November 2017.

And, on 12 October 2020, in response to multiple complaints, including one by depa, the Council formally censured him for a breach of the procedures of the Code and resolved to refer it to the Office of Local Government “for further action under the misconduct provisions of the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW).” OLG hasn’t acted on this yet, but they do have it.

But, when Tim Hurst issued the Order on 5 February at paragraph 20 he said this:

I have considered and taken into account that this conduct occurred in a single episode, and the absence of any prior offending or post-event conduct in the past two years and the lack of previous incidents of misconduct on the part of Clr Funnell.

And that, being a demonstrable error of fact, has many up in arms. Not just the Council, or those who have made complaints over the years, or depa as a complainant, but members of the public as well.

Tim has got it wrong. There has been both “prior offending” and “post-event conduct in the past two years”. In the Investigator’s response to us as a complainant last year the Investigator listed “the existence of previous proven breaches; the breaches forming part of an ongoing pattern of behaviour; and the reputational harm to Council arising from the breaches”.

Those dismayed have written to OLG, and so have we. We emailed first on 11 February under the heading “Chinese or Russian hackers have been on your site and changed clause 20”, intending that the subject at least catch the eye of a busy bureaucrat, then after hearing nothing back, sent a follow-up demonstrating both pre and post offending on 16 February and, when the silence continued, a further follow-up with another example on 22 February.

You can see our email persistence here.

Tim Hurst must act now or there can be no credibility for OLG in managing either the processes or the penalties arising from breaches of the Code of Conduct.

Fix it, Tim.

It’s in the Minister’s office but nothing’s happening. It has been:

since the Government and the Minister were appointed on 5 April 2023. We are still waiting for the legislative changes required.

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