Below is an email which the journalist Keith Moor sent to Cr Penhalluriack prior to his article on the recent boarding house fines. We cite this email in full – apart from the journalist’s phone number.
“Dear Mr Penhalluriack, I am writing an article for tomorrow’s Herald Sun about an illegal backpacker hostel which is being run from 339 Hawthorn Rd and which the Glen Eira Council is attempting to have shut down or brought up to the fire safety standards required of a rooming house.
I have copies of letters written by the council to the property owner. I have done a property search on it and found the company K.I.Penhalluriack owns the property. I have done a company search and found you and your wife are the directors of that company.
Can you please call me at work on xxxxx so I can get some comment from you to include in the article.
Cheers
Keith Moor”
COMMENT:
- Whether or not Moor contacted Council first, or whether Council contacted Moor over this issue palls into insignificance with the admission that Moor has ‘copies of letters written by council’. We believe that this is in breach of the Privacy Act and certainly unethical.
- Who sent the documents to the Herald Sun? Why were these documents sent? One unavoidable conclusion has to be that this is just another shot in the long running smear campaign?
- What faith should residents therefore have in any ‘private’ information that this council holds about them and the adherence to both ethical and legal practice?
For those readers unfamiliar with the Information Privacy Act, we cite the following sections and ask that the actions of this administration be seen in the light of these.
The Information Privacy Act states (in part) in relation to the disclosure of information to a third party –
“An organisation must not use or disclose personal information about an individual for a purpose (the secondary purpose) other than the primary purpose of collection unless—
(a) both of the following apply—
(i) the secondary purpose is related to the primary purpose of collection and, if the personal information is sensitive information, directly related to the primary purpose of collection;
(ii) the individual would reasonably expect the organisation to use or disclose the information for the secondary purpose;or
(b) the individual has consented to the use or disclosure; or
(c) if the use or disclosure is necessary for research, or the compilation or analysis of statistics, in the public interest, other than for publication in a form that identifies any particular individual—
(i) it is impracticable for the organisation to seek the individual’s consent before the use or disclosure”
Glen Eira Council’s Privacy Policy also states: “Council will only use personal information within Council, or disclose it outside Council, for the purpose for which it was collected or in accordance with the Act (eg where it has obtained consent or where the person would reasonably expect this to occur)”.
Glen Eira Debates 
June 16, 2012 at 1:42 PM
Desperate men do desperate things. Newton and Burke must be as desperate as hell.
June 16, 2012 at 3:33 PM
Talk about fiddling while Rome burns … the expensive legal games this Council is playing and all the mud flinging it is doing while our our municipality is being ruined by overdevelopment, traffic and parking issues, lack of open space and absolutely substandard accountablity from Council is really astonishing.
Combine this above post with your previous post (all charges dismissed and costs being awarded against who ever brought the charges) I’m beginning to think a similar finding for Penhalluriack might, despite ratepayers having to foot a humungous bill, be the best thing for Glen Eira as it will get rid of Tang, Esakoff, the insufferable Lipshutz and Hyams once and for all. And even better it mean senior administrators begin looking for some other municipaltiy to play games with.
June 16, 2012 at 6:37 PM
“insufferable Lipshutz and Hyams” is a very apt description of these two. I would extend it to include Lobo, Pilling and the rest of the gang plus those who give them the orders.
June 16, 2012 at 11:32 PM
Obviously the person who provided this information to Glen Eira did the same for the newspaper.
June 17, 2012 at 9:44 AM
The concept of a “dirt unit” originated in Glen Eira. It resides in a locked draw in someones desk inside the town hall. It is activated as required.
June 17, 2012 at 11:11 AM
Did anyone happen to watch any of the David Cameron 6 hour marathon in the witness stand? The most important thing he said I think, concerned the fourth estate and how he lamented the too close relationships between politicians, government and the media. I would say that in Australia the situation is even more dire than in England because the rule of two men or oganisations extends across all media formats.
The blog has made numerous posts about the Leader and its uncritical pro Glen Eira stance and how advertising dollars could be the telling pressure point. Now we’ve got the daily papers (both The Age and the Herald Sun) running stories at appropriate times following suspicious tip-offs.
This trend is dangerous. Not just for the individuals concerned but for our society as a whole. Investigative journalism does not exist anymore. There is now gossip, set ups, scuttle-but pretending to be news and exposes. When “dirt units” can influence the news it’s no wonder that they can influence councillors.
June 17, 2012 at 12:51 PM
Some councillors don’t need too much “influencing”. They are willing accomplices to ensure their power base. Bring on the elections and a new power base that gets rid of Newton.
June 17, 2012 at 12:48 PM
Mr Evans there is no dirt here.There was a complaint about an illegal rooming house in a property that apparantly happens to be owned by a Councillor. The matter would have been treated in the same manner as similar complaints, with investigation and then if required a fine issued.The Councillor will, and can have his day in Court, just like any resident and they will be able to make any accusation they want against their Council. It will be very interesting to see if the Councillor will stand up for scrutiny or they will give a written statement as is the norm with this person.What would we be saying if Council failed to act because there is a Councillor involved?
June 17, 2012 at 1:01 PM
Once again you conveniently miss the point and the crucial questions:
1. How come the journalist has in his possession “letters” written by council to an individual?
2. Does this breach the Information Privacy Act?
3. Why does the journalist have these documents? What is the hidden agenda here?
4. Who authorised release of these documents and what was their motive?
5. How much trust should the public place in Council’s Charter/Mission Statements?
6. What does this incident and plenty of others say about the governance and ethics of those unelected officials who have control of such documentation? Are they working in the best interests of the community, or of themselves?
June 17, 2012 at 1:45 PM
Such a big hue and cry over leaked letters to the press. How about when Penhullariack gave one of Pillings internal e-mail to Glen Eira Debates? Penhullariack is no saint!
June 17, 2012 at 4:22 PM
Golly gosh. Thought there were 9 councillors and 1000 staff and you decide it’s Frank. I’d put my money on Pilling since he’s the one who’s supposed to be all in favour of openness and tried to get notice of motion up only to have it sabotaged by good ‘ol Hyams, Lipshutz.
June 17, 2012 at 7:50 PM
Glen Eira isn’t it obvious. The Councillor involved leaked the information so that they could controll the situation.How come you have a copy of the Journalists letter?Who gave it to you? Any implication that Staff are responsible is without foundation and as usual a cheap shot.
June 17, 2012 at 8:28 PM
“Any implication that Staff are responsible is without foundation and as usual a cheap shot.” That might be your opinion but anyone with half a brain would know that the only people who would, or should, have access to such letters would be staff.
June 18, 2012 at 7:54 PM
When is the MRC finally going to adhere to the agreement they signed with Pilling, Lipshutz, Hyams and Esakoff on the Caulfield Racecourse? And when will these Councillors actually try and enforce the agreement? The silence is deafening!
June 19, 2012 at 12:59 AM
This agreement is like all MRC Agreements … they always take all of the cake and never leave any crumbs for the citizens of Glen eira and our “caring” councillors are rewarded in some strange way and they play powerless and as for boarding houses in GE … welll a letter written about a two storey building with precious overseas students living there without an external staircase still trades without a council enquiry. \\the double standards are remarkable.