Wingecarribee Shire Councilor Duncan Gair
Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2019 10:07 pm
Wingecarribee Shire Councilor Duncan Gair
Hi Ms Lidgard,
In putting together my defence with regards to the malicious and vexatious defamation action brought against me by the mayor and deputy mayor of the Wingecarribee Shire Council, I’ve uncovered undeniable and irrefutable evidence of Duncan Gair’s long-term systemic corruption.
In 2012, Jock Sowter, the lineal descendent of the Coomungie developer, Murray Sowter, spent two months as the Campaign Assistant for Duncan Gair’s re-election campaign, “Keep Duncan Gair There” (see attached pages of Jock Sowter’s LinkedIn page). Over the next 7 years, Duncan Gair failed to declare Jock Sowter’s major role in his election campaign, only ever declaring the most minimal of conflicts “the Sowter family handed out pamphlets at pre-polling 2012”, or “the applicant (Murray Sowter) had political advertising (of Gair’s) on his property”. Clr Gair was then able to vote for and debate on motions about Coomungie when the matter came before council numerous times over the years by nominating his conflict with the Sowters as a “less than significant non-pecuniary interest".
In fact, the Sowter’s had not only been long-term close friends of Duncan Gair for decades (something the current mayor never nominated in 10 years of Coomungie motions brought before council), Clr Gair never once declared Jock Sowter’s role as his Campaign Assistant, Jock being the son of Murray Sowter, a developer who on-sold Coomungie to Chinese interests in 2018 for FORTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS.
Now you’ve got to ask yourself this very important question, Why would the son of a developer want to work for two months on an election campaign to “Keep. Duncan. Gair. There”?
Is it because the family were close friends and wanted to support their “mate” in his bid for reelection? If that’s the case, why didn’t Clr Gair nominate them as friends and then declare the major conflict of interest, thereby refraining from voting and debating on motions before council concerning Coomungie for 10 years from 2007 to 2017 (see attachment Timeline - Gair and Coomungie Conflicts)?
Maybe Jock Sowter was honing his skills in supporting candidates at election. After all, he was the Campaign Assistant for Alan Hay for Throsby at the 2010 Federal elections, the Social Media Manager for Angry Anderson’s election for Throsby in the 2013 Federal elections, the Social Media Manager for John Barilaro’s election campaign for Monaro in the 2015 State elections, and the Social Media Manager for Melinda Pavey’s election campaign for Throsby in the 2015 State elections.
But even if that’s the case, and Jock Sowter was indeed making a career out of supporting “Nationals’” candidates at various elections both state and federal, he was still the lineal descendent of Murray Sowter, a developer who stood to realise a FORTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLAR sale of his property in 2018, and someone who was a long-term close friend with Clr Duncan Gair for 50 years (at the time of writing). Right from the very beginning of Coomungie being nominated at council level for rezoning from farmland to residential, Clr Gair should’ve declared the development a PECUNIARY INTEREST.
But this is what he did instead. For 10 years from 2007 to 2017, Clr Gair failed to properly declare the Sowter family and the Coomungie development as a major conflict of interest, and in doing so, he voted in favour of the Coomungie development at every opportunity, he moved motions in support, he put forward amendments in support, he talked up the Coomungie development in the media, in the local paper, on 2ST, while also debating at open council in favour of his “friend’s” development for TEN. LONG. YEARS.
I’ve got scores of documents that prove this beyond a shadow of doubt.
Clr Gair’s conduct regarding the Sowter/Coomungie development constitutes systemic corruption on a large scale by a three-time mayor who really should know better.
In fact, Duncan Gair does know better, going by the witch hunt he conducted against Clr Jim Mauger over a four year period starting in 2009.
Clr Mauger was up on charges of five Code of Conduct violations, all of them initiated by Clr Gair. During the time Clr Gair was “going after” Clr Mauger, even going so far as to report his conduct and behaviour to the Office of Local Government and Icac, Duncan was committing acts of systemic corruption in failing to declare a long-term friendship with the Sowter family.
Indeed, when the 2012 elections came round, and after Duncan had officially resigned from council, all of a sudden he makes a bid for re-election, and who should he have on his campaign team in a major pecuniary role?
None other than the lineal descendent of his long term mate, Murray Sowter.
The son of a developer.
A developer who would go on to sell his rezoned farmland for FORTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS.
A rezoning submission that Clr Gair voted in favour of FOR TEN-LONG YEARS.
In defending myself against such a deceitful and duplicitous character like our current mayor, I’ve intimately familiarised myself with 15 years of council meeting minutes and agendas, and Jim Mauger has made available thousands of documents from the Supreme Court action he had to undertake to help clear his name.
In fact, that’s exactly what he did.
After being found guilty (by the council) of four of the five charges of Code of Conduct violations that Clr Gair instigated (using the corrupt sole reviewer, Esther Mckay – see attached review), the Supreme Court of NSW ultimately determined that out of the five alleged Code of Conduct breaches against Clr Mauger, only one of them could be proven true by the highest court in the state.
That one Code of Conduct violation was where Clr Mauger called Clr Gair a maggot.
Which is ironic, really. It now turns out he’s a political degenerate and brazen fraudster (based on the scores of documents I’ve sourced that show he’s nothing but a CROOK and a RACKETEER).
And that’s what I called him in the parody song he’s been suing me for the last two-and-a-half years. A CROOK and a RACKETEER. A court action that’s destroyed my life, when all I did was tell the truth.
I’ve attached the corrupt sole reviewer’s report regarding the witch hunt against Clr Mauger, and in the document, there’s plenty of instances of hypocrisy and double standards, proving the whole matter was a stitch-up from the very start, and one that was originally brought about by Mayor Gair.
On 14 September, 2011, the sole reviewer’s report was submitted at a council meeting as a General Manager’s report, and surprise, surprise, Clr Gair moved the following motion –
“THAT Council resolve that Councillor James Mauger has breached Council’s Code of Conduct on more than one occasion as found by Council’s Code of Conduct Committee, sole reviewer, Mrs Ester McKay, in report dated 25 August 2011.”
There’s one major problem here.
At the time, Clr Gair had not only breached the council’s strict Code of Conduct regulations by not declaring Murray Sowter and Coomungie development a major conflict of interest (pecuniary) on numerous occasions when motions came before council about the development, Clr Gair would continue to breach the Code of Conduct regulations regarding Coomungie declarations of interest FOR THE NEXT SIX YEARS, AND MORE THAN A DOZEN TIMES.
The second part of the same motion concerned the following –
“THAT Council confirm the findings in the report of the Conduct Review Committee, sole reviewer, that four (4) of the five (5) allegations have been sustained and are detailed as follows:
(i) Unauthorised travel and expenses claim for $700 to attend the 2008 Lachlan Shire Council Election Dinner at Condobolin. Sustained under policy as set out in 101/5 Payment of Expenses and Provisions under Section 252, 253, and 254 of Local Government Act 1993 General Provisions, 1.1(c) General Conduct Obligations.
6.1a) contravenes the Act, associated regulations, council’s relevant administrative requirements and policies.”
So while Clr Gair was vigorously pursuing Clr Mauger for an unauthorised claim of $700, he’s secretly voting in favour of the Coomungie development from 2007 to 2010, without (properly) disclosing to the council (or the community) that he was a long-term friend of the owner of Coomungie, a developer who would end up selling his rezoned farmland for FORTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS.
And at every opportunity, Clr Gair voted for his “very good friend’s” development whenever motions came before council, and didn’t stop voting for the development until 2017, when the councillor was finally confronted with the fact that the Sowters and Coomungie were indeed a PECUNIARY INTEREST.
Now, in trying to have the sole reviewer’s report acted upon, and in attempt to have Clr Mauger punished for his alleged Code of Conduct violations, Clr Gair must have read the report in full.
Here’s some aspects of the report that show Duncan Gair is a duplicitous fraud, and a hypocrite with serious double standards in his determination to destroy the political career of Clr Jim Mauger –
Honesty –
You have a duty to act honestly. You must declare any private interests relating to your public duties and and take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in such a way that protects the public interest. This means obeying the law; following the letter and spirit of policies and procedures; observing the code of conduct; fully disclosing actual or potential conflict of interests and exercising any conferred power strictly for the purpose for which the power was conferred.
General Conduct Obligations –
You must not not conduct yourself in carrying out your functions in a manner that is likely to bring the council or holders of civic office into disrepute. Specifically, you must not act in a way that –
(c) is improper and unethical
Let’s face it, Ms Lidgard, and once again referring to the attached timeline of Clr Gair’s failure to properly declare the Sowter family and the Coomungie development as a major conflict of interest (pecuniary) for 10 years from 2007 to 2017, the current mayor of our shire was dishonest, misleading, improper and unethical.
And yet, here Duncan was, back in 2011, pushing for the council to find Clr Mauger in contravention of the very code of conduct regulations he went on to contravene numerous times in the years that followed.
Ms Lidgard, I know what your response to my correspondence will be. You’ll state for the record that you don’t identify any wrongdoing on the part of Mayor Gair, even though the writing’s on the wall.
And that’s because the whole council, including every single councillor and senior manager, is corrupt to the core. For you and your colleagues to acknowledge Clr Gair’s long-term systemic corruption, would open a Pandora’s Box of entrenched malfeasance, and in all likelihood would force the council into administration.
I must warn you, Ms Lidgard, that if you fail to properly address my credible complaints of Clr Gair’s corruption (backed up irrefutable documentary evidence), then you are in contravention of the council’s charter, the Local Government Act of 1993, the ICAC Act of 1988, the council’s Fraud and Corruption Prevention Policy and the council’s zero tolerance to corruption policy.
And should you fail to properly address and act on my credible reports of Clr Gair’s long-term systemic corruption, I intend to sue you for substantial damages in the District Court of NSW.
Lest I remind you, that by failing to properly fulfil your duties as the Manager Governance, and by acting unlawfully, you are not covered by the liability insurance the council has in place with regards to litigation.
And any court action that is found against you, will mean you have to pay the substantial damages (and the cost of the litigation) out of your own pocket.
Please choose wisely the direction you take with regards to this email of complaint.
Regards,
Adam Greenwood
FYI –
Crook (n) – a very dishonest person, especially a criminal or a cheat
Racketeer (n) – someone who makes money from a dishonest or illegal business activity
Hi Ms Lidgard,
In putting together my defence with regards to the malicious and vexatious defamation action brought against me by the mayor and deputy mayor of the Wingecarribee Shire Council, I’ve uncovered undeniable and irrefutable evidence of Duncan Gair’s long-term systemic corruption.
In 2012, Jock Sowter, the lineal descendent of the Coomungie developer, Murray Sowter, spent two months as the Campaign Assistant for Duncan Gair’s re-election campaign, “Keep Duncan Gair There” (see attached pages of Jock Sowter’s LinkedIn page). Over the next 7 years, Duncan Gair failed to declare Jock Sowter’s major role in his election campaign, only ever declaring the most minimal of conflicts “the Sowter family handed out pamphlets at pre-polling 2012”, or “the applicant (Murray Sowter) had political advertising (of Gair’s) on his property”. Clr Gair was then able to vote for and debate on motions about Coomungie when the matter came before council numerous times over the years by nominating his conflict with the Sowters as a “less than significant non-pecuniary interest".
In fact, the Sowter’s had not only been long-term close friends of Duncan Gair for decades (something the current mayor never nominated in 10 years of Coomungie motions brought before council), Clr Gair never once declared Jock Sowter’s role as his Campaign Assistant, Jock being the son of Murray Sowter, a developer who on-sold Coomungie to Chinese interests in 2018 for FORTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS.
Now you’ve got to ask yourself this very important question, Why would the son of a developer want to work for two months on an election campaign to “Keep. Duncan. Gair. There”?
Is it because the family were close friends and wanted to support their “mate” in his bid for reelection? If that’s the case, why didn’t Clr Gair nominate them as friends and then declare the major conflict of interest, thereby refraining from voting and debating on motions before council concerning Coomungie for 10 years from 2007 to 2017 (see attachment Timeline - Gair and Coomungie Conflicts)?
Maybe Jock Sowter was honing his skills in supporting candidates at election. After all, he was the Campaign Assistant for Alan Hay for Throsby at the 2010 Federal elections, the Social Media Manager for Angry Anderson’s election for Throsby in the 2013 Federal elections, the Social Media Manager for John Barilaro’s election campaign for Monaro in the 2015 State elections, and the Social Media Manager for Melinda Pavey’s election campaign for Throsby in the 2015 State elections.
But even if that’s the case, and Jock Sowter was indeed making a career out of supporting “Nationals’” candidates at various elections both state and federal, he was still the lineal descendent of Murray Sowter, a developer who stood to realise a FORTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLAR sale of his property in 2018, and someone who was a long-term close friend with Clr Duncan Gair for 50 years (at the time of writing). Right from the very beginning of Coomungie being nominated at council level for rezoning from farmland to residential, Clr Gair should’ve declared the development a PECUNIARY INTEREST.
But this is what he did instead. For 10 years from 2007 to 2017, Clr Gair failed to properly declare the Sowter family and the Coomungie development as a major conflict of interest, and in doing so, he voted in favour of the Coomungie development at every opportunity, he moved motions in support, he put forward amendments in support, he talked up the Coomungie development in the media, in the local paper, on 2ST, while also debating at open council in favour of his “friend’s” development for TEN. LONG. YEARS.
I’ve got scores of documents that prove this beyond a shadow of doubt.
Clr Gair’s conduct regarding the Sowter/Coomungie development constitutes systemic corruption on a large scale by a three-time mayor who really should know better.
In fact, Duncan Gair does know better, going by the witch hunt he conducted against Clr Jim Mauger over a four year period starting in 2009.
Clr Mauger was up on charges of five Code of Conduct violations, all of them initiated by Clr Gair. During the time Clr Gair was “going after” Clr Mauger, even going so far as to report his conduct and behaviour to the Office of Local Government and Icac, Duncan was committing acts of systemic corruption in failing to declare a long-term friendship with the Sowter family.
Indeed, when the 2012 elections came round, and after Duncan had officially resigned from council, all of a sudden he makes a bid for re-election, and who should he have on his campaign team in a major pecuniary role?
None other than the lineal descendent of his long term mate, Murray Sowter.
The son of a developer.
A developer who would go on to sell his rezoned farmland for FORTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS.
A rezoning submission that Clr Gair voted in favour of FOR TEN-LONG YEARS.
In defending myself against such a deceitful and duplicitous character like our current mayor, I’ve intimately familiarised myself with 15 years of council meeting minutes and agendas, and Jim Mauger has made available thousands of documents from the Supreme Court action he had to undertake to help clear his name.
In fact, that’s exactly what he did.
After being found guilty (by the council) of four of the five charges of Code of Conduct violations that Clr Gair instigated (using the corrupt sole reviewer, Esther Mckay – see attached review), the Supreme Court of NSW ultimately determined that out of the five alleged Code of Conduct breaches against Clr Mauger, only one of them could be proven true by the highest court in the state.
That one Code of Conduct violation was where Clr Mauger called Clr Gair a maggot.
Which is ironic, really. It now turns out he’s a political degenerate and brazen fraudster (based on the scores of documents I’ve sourced that show he’s nothing but a CROOK and a RACKETEER).
And that’s what I called him in the parody song he’s been suing me for the last two-and-a-half years. A CROOK and a RACKETEER. A court action that’s destroyed my life, when all I did was tell the truth.
I’ve attached the corrupt sole reviewer’s report regarding the witch hunt against Clr Mauger, and in the document, there’s plenty of instances of hypocrisy and double standards, proving the whole matter was a stitch-up from the very start, and one that was originally brought about by Mayor Gair.
On 14 September, 2011, the sole reviewer’s report was submitted at a council meeting as a General Manager’s report, and surprise, surprise, Clr Gair moved the following motion –
“THAT Council resolve that Councillor James Mauger has breached Council’s Code of Conduct on more than one occasion as found by Council’s Code of Conduct Committee, sole reviewer, Mrs Ester McKay, in report dated 25 August 2011.”
There’s one major problem here.
At the time, Clr Gair had not only breached the council’s strict Code of Conduct regulations by not declaring Murray Sowter and Coomungie development a major conflict of interest (pecuniary) on numerous occasions when motions came before council about the development, Clr Gair would continue to breach the Code of Conduct regulations regarding Coomungie declarations of interest FOR THE NEXT SIX YEARS, AND MORE THAN A DOZEN TIMES.
The second part of the same motion concerned the following –
“THAT Council confirm the findings in the report of the Conduct Review Committee, sole reviewer, that four (4) of the five (5) allegations have been sustained and are detailed as follows:
(i) Unauthorised travel and expenses claim for $700 to attend the 2008 Lachlan Shire Council Election Dinner at Condobolin. Sustained under policy as set out in 101/5 Payment of Expenses and Provisions under Section 252, 253, and 254 of Local Government Act 1993 General Provisions, 1.1(c) General Conduct Obligations.
6.1a) contravenes the Act, associated regulations, council’s relevant administrative requirements and policies.”
So while Clr Gair was vigorously pursuing Clr Mauger for an unauthorised claim of $700, he’s secretly voting in favour of the Coomungie development from 2007 to 2010, without (properly) disclosing to the council (or the community) that he was a long-term friend of the owner of Coomungie, a developer who would end up selling his rezoned farmland for FORTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS.
And at every opportunity, Clr Gair voted for his “very good friend’s” development whenever motions came before council, and didn’t stop voting for the development until 2017, when the councillor was finally confronted with the fact that the Sowters and Coomungie were indeed a PECUNIARY INTEREST.
Now, in trying to have the sole reviewer’s report acted upon, and in attempt to have Clr Mauger punished for his alleged Code of Conduct violations, Clr Gair must have read the report in full.
Here’s some aspects of the report that show Duncan Gair is a duplicitous fraud, and a hypocrite with serious double standards in his determination to destroy the political career of Clr Jim Mauger –
Honesty –
You have a duty to act honestly. You must declare any private interests relating to your public duties and and take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in such a way that protects the public interest. This means obeying the law; following the letter and spirit of policies and procedures; observing the code of conduct; fully disclosing actual or potential conflict of interests and exercising any conferred power strictly for the purpose for which the power was conferred.
General Conduct Obligations –
You must not not conduct yourself in carrying out your functions in a manner that is likely to bring the council or holders of civic office into disrepute. Specifically, you must not act in a way that –
(c) is improper and unethical
Let’s face it, Ms Lidgard, and once again referring to the attached timeline of Clr Gair’s failure to properly declare the Sowter family and the Coomungie development as a major conflict of interest (pecuniary) for 10 years from 2007 to 2017, the current mayor of our shire was dishonest, misleading, improper and unethical.
And yet, here Duncan was, back in 2011, pushing for the council to find Clr Mauger in contravention of the very code of conduct regulations he went on to contravene numerous times in the years that followed.
Ms Lidgard, I know what your response to my correspondence will be. You’ll state for the record that you don’t identify any wrongdoing on the part of Mayor Gair, even though the writing’s on the wall.
And that’s because the whole council, including every single councillor and senior manager, is corrupt to the core. For you and your colleagues to acknowledge Clr Gair’s long-term systemic corruption, would open a Pandora’s Box of entrenched malfeasance, and in all likelihood would force the council into administration.
I must warn you, Ms Lidgard, that if you fail to properly address my credible complaints of Clr Gair’s corruption (backed up irrefutable documentary evidence), then you are in contravention of the council’s charter, the Local Government Act of 1993, the ICAC Act of 1988, the council’s Fraud and Corruption Prevention Policy and the council’s zero tolerance to corruption policy.
And should you fail to properly address and act on my credible reports of Clr Gair’s long-term systemic corruption, I intend to sue you for substantial damages in the District Court of NSW.
Lest I remind you, that by failing to properly fulfil your duties as the Manager Governance, and by acting unlawfully, you are not covered by the liability insurance the council has in place with regards to litigation.
And any court action that is found against you, will mean you have to pay the substantial damages (and the cost of the litigation) out of your own pocket.
Please choose wisely the direction you take with regards to this email of complaint.
Regards,
Adam Greenwood
FYI –
Crook (n) – a very dishonest person, especially a criminal or a cheat
Racketeer (n) – someone who makes money from a dishonest or illegal business activity