Code misused, says CEN

Community Environment Network chairperson Mr John Asquith has claimed that Gosford Council's Code of Conduct is not being used to address conflicts of interest, but to suppress free political expression.

He said the code was designed to make sure that councillors reported conflicts of interest and did not take advantage of their postions.

Mr Asquith said he had looked at four cases of breaches of the code within Gosford Council and "didn't find anywhere the code of conduct was initiated by an alleged conflict of interest".

Kaitlin Watts, 15 Sep 2011 Interviewee: John Asquith