Conflict of interest error leads to stoush

CHAOS erupted at a Tasmanian council meeting after a mistaken conflict of interest concern was raised by an alderman.

At the Clarence City Council’s special planning meeting on Wednesday, a debate concerning an application to rezone land in central Lauderdale was under way when Alderman Beth Warren called a point of order.

She was concerned Ald Brendan Blomeley may have a conflict of interest due to his close friendship with Hobart Alderman Simon Behrakis, whose family Ald Warren believed to be the landowners.

But the landowners’ surname was Lambrakis.

Ald Blomeley erupted at the comment. “How dare you! It’s a different name, what a joke!” he stood up and shouted.

Ald Warren apologised for the error and Mayor Doug Chipman interjected, calling for Ald Blomeley to sit down and stop shouting before he was made to apologise or leave.

On Thursday, Ald Warren was still shaken by the incident. She accepted she made a genuine mistake, but said what followed was unacceptable.

“I shouldn’t have interactions in council that make me lose sleep or affect my day job.

“We all deserve to be able to have a safe workplace.”

She said one remark from Ald Blomeley had stuck in her mind: “You’re skating on thin ice here, woman.”

As a Greens-affiliated alderman, she said it was also inappropriate for Ald Blomeley to attack her party.

“I don’t attack him and the Liberals every time he makes a comment,” she said.

Ald Warren said she would not make a Code of Conduct complaint, as she did not want to draw the situation out longer than needed.

Ald Blomeley sent a statement to media while the council meeting was still under way. He appreciated the surnames may sound similar, but said Ald Warren should have “done her homework and read the submissions”.

“However, instead of this, Alderman Warren chooses to seek the cheap political point in an attempt to besmirch my good name and the names of other good, hardworking Tasmanians,” he said. He likened the mistake to one made by Greens leader Cassy O’Connor, who had previously mistaken Hobart’s Xin-De Wang for Victorian developer Hui Wang.

“People like Beth Warren and her political bedfellows would do well to recognise the key role that members of our migrant population have played in the development and advancement of our state.”

Ald Behrakis said it appeared that to some all ethnic names all sounded the same.

“It does seem to be symptomatic of a greater problem within the party,” he said.