Wyndham council will not consider taking action against councillor Intaj Khan until the Local Government Inspectorate has finished investigating a complaint made against him.
As reported by Star Weekly, a Wyndham resident lodged a complaint with the inspectorate, alleging that Cr Khan had misused his position as a councillor to promote his business interests in a council-branded advertisement.
The complaint surrounds an advertisement in the July edition of
Alwasat, a western suburbs-based Arabic newspaper.
The advertisement features a photo of Cr Khan, a Ramadan message, Wyndham council’s logo and web address, and a listing of three schools either owned or managed by Cr Khan. A similar advertisement featuring Cr Khan appeared in Alwasat’s July 2013 edition.
Both advertisements appeared without the council’s knowledge or approval.
Cr Khan maintains that the advertisements were “free community greetings”.
Wyndham council chief executive Kerry Thompson said the council would not consider internal action until the inspectorate’s investigation was over.
“Once … recommendations [are] made, we will be in a position to determine whether any internal actions are required. It is important to point out that these allegations are treated very seriously.”
A spokesman for the Infrastructure and Local Government department said the inspectorate would assess the complaint to determine if it fell under its jurisdiction.
If an investigation is necessary, the complaint will be passed on to an investigator and the parties involved will be interviewed.
