A Parramatta Councillor has been successful at the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) in getting her own Council to release information as part of its controversial partnership with the Eels – now she’s taking them to the Supreme Court.
A staunch opponent of City of Parramatta’s $1.15 million partnership with the Eels, Independent Councillor Kellie Darley has celebrated a partial win at NCAT.
On Wednesday, July 31, the Council was ordered at the hearing to release staff emails regarding its assessment of the sponsorship of the NRL club within 14 days.
Darley believes details surrounding the partnership, which was decided behind closed doors, should be made public.
Anything in the emails that is commercially sensitive to the Eels would be removed – something Darley said she has never asked to be made public.
Other documents relating to the sponsorship could also be released at a later date.
“I made two applications to Council back in February, which were mostly denied in March. So they’ve now agreed to release all the staff correspondence about the sponsorship of Parramatta Eels,” Darley said.
But City of Parramatta has a different view on the matter.
In a statement released following the NCAT hearing, the Council said it was successful in preventing the release of commercially sensitive information and a breach of a legally binding commercial contract.
“The Council always takes seriously its responsibility to protect the private and commercially sensitive information provided by members of our community,” City of Parramatta CEO Gail Connolly said.
“Council will continue to zealously protect the confidential information that it holds to ensure that public confidence in the good governance of the city is maintained at all times. Council has been successful today in protecting that information and preventing a breach of our commercial contract with the Eels.”
The statement said Darley’s acceptance of Council’s offer means she can now be provided the same documents Council offered to her some months ago, adding that the delay in acceptance of the offer has come at significant expense to the community.
Darley said Council’s response has left her “absolutely shocked and frankly embarrassed as a Councillor”.
“When I left court there was a level of things done in good faith, a level of good will amongst both parties that the documents would be provided to me as I originally and lawfully applied for, but that all seems to have gone pear-shaped overnight,” she said.
“I could put in a concerns notice for Council to take it down but I’m referring the matter to the Minister for Local Government instead because this is not how Council should be operating and it’s extremely disappointing.”
She added that Council could have released the documents she applied for back in February at any time, saying Council has wasted money delaying the whole process.
“[Council] turned up with a legal team of four people [to the NCAT hearing]. It just seems excessive and such a waste of money,” Darley said.
“Now for them to accuse me of wasting money I find offensive, because it’s a complete falsehood.”
“Knowing that my Council is now misusing Council resources for political gain… this is an attempted political attack on me.”
The City of Parramatta and Parramatta Eels three-year partnership was originally set to cost ratepayers $2.4 million but was later reduced to $1.15 million.
$383,500 will now be spent each year, with the funds to go towards a scholarship for young western Sydney women, player clinics, holiday camps and player appearances at certain events in the first year.
The City of Parramatta logo will also appear on the jerseys of the Parramatta NRLW team.
The Eels will also directly invest $600,000 during that period to stage major events and launches in the local government area and support the city’s marketing initiatives.
Darley to take Council to Supreme Court
The NCAT hearing comes after Darley was censured at the latest Council meeting during closed session, over her social media posts about the Eels partnership.
According to the minutes of the July 22 meeting, an external investigator found Darley breached Council’s Code of Conduct.
“It is alleged that information Councillor Darley placed on social media regarding this disclosed financial information concerning the cost of the partnership which she allegedly knew or ought to have known was untrue,” Council documents said.
“The information contained in Councillor Darley’s social media post referred to $2.4 million when the actual figure endorsed by Council was $383,000.”
But Darley disputes this, saying she only reposted information that was already in the public domain, including photos of United Services Union trucks in Parramatta which criticised the partnership – photos she said were also shared by other Councillors.
“The reality is that I’ve been censured because I’ve reshared information that the Sydney Morning Herald had published, information that I didn’t provide to them, so I’ve shared what is already in the public domain and they’re saying that I’ve shared confidential information,” she added.
“Yet a number of other Councillors shard similar information and they’re not being censured – they’re not being punished.”
Saying she feels “completely targeted and bullied,” Darley confirmed she will be taking the Council to the Supreme Court to challenge the conduct investigator’s report.
It’s set to take place on September 3.
The Local Government election will be held on September 14.
Ellie Busby is a news reporter for Western Sydney Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Hertfordshire and Western Sydney University, she is a journalism Major. Ellie has worked with Universal Media, The Cova Project and for a range of other organisations. In 2024, Ellie was named Young Writer of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.