Port Hedland mayor Peter Carter strikes down tender review push spurred on by collapse of MJW Building

Town of Port Hedland Mayor Peter Carter has shut down an independent review into the Town’s tender processes spurred by the collapse of a local builder working on South Hedland’s skatepark and youth centre upgrades. The matter was voted on at a special council meeting called by councillors Jan Gillingham, Ash Christensen and Renae Coles in response to MJW Building’s voluntary administration in October 2021, which resulted in a $3 million loss to creditors including local contractors. The Town had attempted to keep the meeting hidden from ratepayers, however Cr Gillingham successfully moved to open the meeting to the public, successfully arguing it was not confidential. The recommendation for an independent review of tenders between July 2019 and November 2021 included 12 specific areas of investigation, including the personal and professional relationships between Town of Port Hedland staff, council members and MJW Building. Cr Christensen applauded the town’s administration in safeguarding it’s finances against risks associated with the collapse but said the issue warranted a review. “We are in no way suggesting that the town’s actions had anything to do with MJW going into voluntary administration, however this does not negate the fact that small businesses in the town are now owed millions of dollars,” he said. Cr Christensen said $100,000 was a small price to pay to conduct a review that could potentially mitigate or reduce a future situation “similar or at worst identical to this”. Speaking in opposition of the move, Cr David Eckhart said he found it “highly repugnant” the tender process which had “served the town for a number of years” was being called into question. “I can see through a very thin veil cast here, on the coincidental dates of the issue, that directly relate to the period where council was suspended by the local government minister and a commissioner appointed,” he said. “I’m against it because it smacks of a vendetta being carried out by a member of the community who has made it a personal crusade against this council for a long time, all in their claim of being an activist. “Now that they are no longer on council, their return to their personal mission against council in general and the mayor in particular is back in full force, enlisting the help of members in council to call this meeting, and to put this repugnant motion on the table.” Cr Gillingham interjected Cr Eckhart’s statement several times and asked him to stick to the motion, but Mayor Peter Carter, who counted Cr Eckhart among his running mates at the 2021 council election, implored him to continue. Deputy mayor Tim Turner said he did not believe the administration’s actions warranted an investigation. “This motion calls into investigation the personal relationships that sit between council and the public, that smacks to me a bit of a witch-hunt,” he said. Cr Turner said an internal audit delivered in December 2020 “did not indicate any impropriety, wrongdoings or any major gaps”. “We are going to be making the statement of the financial returns, the audit for last financial year and the audit themselves have said there is no findings in regards to fraud or inappropriate management of resources,” he said. Cr Coles, who supported the motion, said she was “appalled” and “disheartened” by the suggestion this was a witch-hunt on behalf of a community member. “If you actually stepped foot outside your office and talked to local contractors who are suffering right now throughout this town, they called upon this so many times,” she said. “Even with the collapse of MJW, they stated very clearly that they wanted some kind of investigation into this. It was brought to the table in a briefing and mentioned in passing.” “At no point in time was it a witch-hunt for someone in the public to go against the current mayor.” Cr Coles said the motion sought to find out if there was something in the tender process which could be implemented to ensure the safety of local contractors going forward. Mr Carter, Cr Turner, Cr Eckhart and Cr Elmar Zielke voted against the motion and Cr Coles, Cr Gillingham, Cr Christensen and Cr Flo Bennett voted for the motion. Mr Carter then used his casting vote to strike down the motion. The ordinary council meeting was held immediately after the conclusion of the special council meeting and close to $18 million in tenders were accepted by the council.