City of Rockingham councillors and ratepayers grill mayor and CEO over planned $168,000 Aukus trip to US

The City of Rockingham’s mayor and chief executive have come under intense scrutiny after the Sound Telegraph revealed the pair would be taking a $14,000 per head trip to the US later this year.

Mayor Deb Hamblin and chief executive Michael Parker will jet to the US with their counterparts from Kwinana, Fremantle, Cockburn, Melville and East Fremantle councils this September.

The $168,000 trip will be funded by the Perth South West Metropolitan Alliance — of which these councils are the sole supporting members.

Attendees will focus on understanding how to best support incoming US Navy personnel and their families when submarines are stationed at Garden Island’s HMAS Stirling from 2027.

They also plan to meet business groups involved in developing and maintaining the Virginia Class submarines and discuss with their US counterparts issues such as homelessness and urban development.

Questioning by councillors revealed the city had provided more than half a million dollars in funding to the alliance during a five-year period.

Cr Kelly Middlecoat, Cr Lorna Buchan and Cr Craig Buchanan submitted questions to the council about the upcoming trip.

These were not debated at the July 23 meeting but answers were published in the agenda.

Cr Buchanan asked for details about the city’s annual subscription to the alliance. The response revealed the city had provided $572,261 in funding from 2019 to 2024.

He also questioned what the city received in exchange for the funding.

“The annual report for the alliance is published and provided on its website,” the response said.

“It includes the major priorities/achievements and an independent auditor’s report for the year ending.”

Major achievements in the 2022-23 report included building the profile of the alliance, rebranding a regional vision document, and lists of networking and advocacy activities.

Cr Buchan asked why councillors were not provided with copies of the alliance’s meeting minutes relating to the US trip and wanted a copy of the itinerary.

The response said the alliance’s board discussions and minutes were not publicly available “in accordance with the corporate governance charter” and the “final detail” of the delegation’s itinerary was still being compiled.

Ms Buchan also asked who approved the chief executive’s leave, to which the reply read: “The CEO is representing the City of Rockingham in his official capacity on this delegation and is not taking leave”.

Cr Middlecoat asked if the trip would come before the council for endorsement, citing the professional development policy which says “council approval is required for a council member’s attendance at an international conference”.

The response said the mayor and chief executive were attending as representatives of the city and the trip was not considered professional development.

During public question time at the meeting, Waikiki resident Julie Norbury asked how Ms Hamblin and Mr Parker could justify the costs of the trip when the alliance derived its funds from the respective councils’ ratepayers.

Ms Hamblin directed corporate services director John Pearson to respond for the “purposes of transparency”, who said AUKUS would have a major impact on the region and provide an economic stimulus.

He said the council had appointed the mayor and chief executive as representatives to the alliance in 2023.

Ms Norbury also asked why alliance members would be discussing homelessness and emergency procedures during the trip.

“I will point out that housing is up to our Governments to tackle and emergency procedures is already covered under WA’s hazardous materials annex and will soon be the remit of the new Australian naval nuclear power safety regulator,” she said.

“What is the rationale for thinking it’s necessary to travel to San Diego to find the answers to these problems?”

Mr Pearson said AUKUS would affect the city more than any other.

“The City of Rockingham is the local government closest to the very heart of AUKUS, given that HMAS Stirling is located within our city,” he said.

“The (mayor) and CEO will ensure the city is informed about social policy and administrative implications and opportunities at both the strategic and operational level over a large range of issues.

“In essence, the city has a first-hand understanding of how to deal with the impacts, particularly in the areas of housing and transport and education and training opportunities for our young people.

“The delegation will visit San Diego, a similar defence base, and will meet with local government representatives there. This will help us to better understand first-hand the challenges, opportunities and lessons learned.”

Jason Davies also had questions about the itinerary: if the group would be flying business class, if alcohol would be consumed, if the chief executive’s credit card would be used on the trip and if the city would be cancelling the “extravagant” trip in light of people in the region struggling.

Mr Davies’ questions were met with applause from the gallery.

Ms Hamblin said she had seen a draft itinerary and there would be few leisure days, but added they would be “flying economy”.