Coffs Councillor Mentions State Minister's Driving History in Council Meeting

Sally Townley Questions Rally


Article heading image for Coffs Councillor Mentions State Minister's Driving History in Council Meeting

The driving record of NSW Minister for Tourism and Major Events, Adam Marshall, was raised during the Coffs Harbour Council Meeting on Thursday night.

While discussing the Rally in Coffs Harbour, Councillor Sally Townley was calling for more transparency and questioned the role General Manager Steve McGrath as a Director of Rally Australia Pty Ltd.

She claimed that the current situation "represents an unmanageable conflict", while saying that Council should have "transparency wherever it can".

Cr Townley's alternate motion was to have the General Manager relinquish his role with Rally Australia, however it did not move forward.

While speaking on the issue, the councillor made reference to which Minister was responsible for securing the Rally, showing a photo of Mr Marshall, then went on to make reference to his driving record with a detailed list of the historic offences.

The slideshow and comments did not sit well with Councillor Keith Rhoades, saying that he found the remarks to be 'distasteful'.

Cr Rhoades accused Cr Townley of trying to shut down events in Coffs Harbour.

He said, it is about bringing events to NSW.

"How proud should we be that Coffs Harbour is one of just 13 places that gets this world event", Cr Rhoades said.

Sally Townley was not alone with believing the current roles of the General Manager were a conflict of interest, with Cr Paul Amos agreeing.

Cr Amos called for an amendment with the hope to see the value of the 2016 Rally Event Sponsorship and estimated economic benefit released to the public, however the amendment was voted against by the majority of councillors.

The original motion to support the Rally Sponsorship passed unaminously.

The General Manager was not present at the meeting.

24 May 2018




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