Mayor of Liverpool Ned Mannoun has this afternoon released a categorical and detailed denial of a number of serious allegations made against him in the NSW Upper House.
Under parliamentary privilege last Thursday, Shooters Party MLC Robert Borsak accused Mr Mannoun of having had his employment ended by the Mt Pritchard Community Club when management found out about the secret sale of gym vouchers.
Mr Borsak also claimed Mr Mannoun’s father had been the beneficiary of free apartments from developers for getting approval for their projects in Liverpool.
The third, somewhat vague accusation made by Mr Borsak related to the fire in 2010 that gutted the Liverpool Council building in Hoxton Park Road.
The fourth was over the so-called raffle prize of a house alarm at a Liberal Party fundraiser.
“I was subject to an outrageous and cowardly attack in the NSW Parliament,’’ says Mr Mannoun in his media statement.
“This attack delivered by a member of the Shooters Party, is yet another in a series of personal attacks upon me orchestrated by the NSW Labor Party seeking to smear my reputation and regain control of Liverpool Council,’’ Mr Mannoun said in his statement.
“Labor and the unions will resort to any measure to derail the reforms and progress my Liberal councillors and I have delivered for the people of Liverpool.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“I categorically and totally deny all the lies made under parliamentary privilege and challenge those making them to repeat them outside the parliament and face the consequences of defamation laws available to the ordinary citizen.[/social_quote]
“I would welcome any inquiry into the lies made under parliamentary privilege as I have nothing to hide,’’ Mr Mannoun said.
He then provides a response to each of the allegations levelled against him by Mr Borsak.
• Mt Pritchard Community Club
“I worked for the Mount Pritchard Club in the mid 2000s and they never raised any allegation of any impropriety and for further details please contact them. We have a great relationship with the Mt Pritchard Community Club and we attend each other’s functions and Christmas parties,’’ Mr Mannoun said.
• Liverpool Council building fire
“On the night of the fire I was asleep at home and received a call from the then General Manager informing me of the fire. I then drove down there and when I arrived the then Deputy Mayor Tony Hadchiti was already present at the scene,’’ says Mr Mannoun in response to Mr Borsak’s claims in parliament.
“The flames being approximately three stories high, and being across from a residential area many people were on the street watching the fire unfold.
“I do not recall if Sam Bargshoon was present.
“The Labor controlled Council was sacked in 2004 and the first election and after the administration run council was in 2008.’’
• Liberal Party fundraiser and the alarm system
“This allegation is entirely inaccurate and completely absurd. Firstly Joe Hockey was never at the event mentioned that took place in 2011. The alarm system installed in my house to protect my young family is not the alarm system referred to in the allegations and had nothing to do with events of that fundraising night.
“On numerous occasions the alarm system donor attempted to make many arrangements with the recipient for the installation of the prize alarm but that never eventuated and the recipient is receiving a refund from the Liberal Party.’’
• Developers and 1 Mill Road, Liverpool
“My father does not own property in 1 Mill Road, Liverpool nor has he ever been “given” property by any person or entity,’’ says Mr Mannoun.
“Ownership of property is publicly available and can be obtained by conducting a title search for current and historical property owners. This is an allegation that is simple to rebut and had my accusers even attempted to conduct a simple title search they would have then seen that it is completely false.
“My father has lived in Zambia for over 10 years and has only just moved back to Australia last year.
“It is however possible that Mr Borsak may have met my father when Mr Borsak was killing innocent and defenceless animals such as elephants in places like Zambia. My father however is totally against Mr Borask’s favourite pastime so I doubt they would have met,’’ Mr Mannoun said in his media statement.
♦ At 3.36pm last Thursday, September 10, Robert Borsak, (pictured at left) a Shooters Party MP, stood up and delivered the following speech. [The South West Voice has deleted references to the Liverpool Council CEO Carl Wulff, otherwise the speech is unedited].
“Tonight I want to talk about Liverpool City Council and the shameful team running this organisation. Mayor Ned Mannoun is a man who has been in the media a lot of late. In 2006 Ned was employed at the Mt Pritchard community club. During this time a large number of gym vouchers were allegedly taken by Ned and sold to others for less than face value. These vouchers were then handed into the gym and memberships were commenced with the club receiving no payment. This was discovered by the club and Ned’s employment was ended.
“After a failed attempt to displace Paul Lynch in 2007, Ned was elected to the council in 2008. Liverpool City Council’s administration building burnt down in 2010. How and why is still a mystery, but clearly a lot of accelerant was used. Ned was joined by Mr Sam Bargshoon, who just minutes after the fire started, stood outside watching it burn throughout the night.
“In 2011 a Liberal Party fundraiser was held in south-west Sydney. It was attended by Liberal Party royalty, including Joe Hockey. Prizes auctioned on the night included signed bottles of champagne and one alarm system that sold for $1,100. The successful bidder was one of Ned’s campaign volunteers, who would later join him in the council, Sabrina Mamone. The Sydney Morning Herald reported in July this year that an identical alarm system was installed in Ned’s house after the party fundraiser and receipts for the installation show that there was no charge for the alarm system.
“In 2012 Ned was elected to the position of mayor. It is widely acknowledged amongst developers that if you want to get your high-rise development approved, it helps to give a unit to Ned’s father. The development at 1 Mill Road, Liverpool reportedly gave Ned’s dad three apartments.
“During his reign as mayor there has been a dramatic increase in the number of staff closely aligned with the Liberal Party, which must be approved by council, yet they never appear in the council structure or within the council salary system and are not governed by the same policies as other council staff.
“In 2016 council agreed that a pop-up café would operate out of the workers’ shed at Bigge Park for a short period of time. What actually happened was that the workers were moved out and council spent $80,000 of ratepayers’ money turning the shed into a permanent coffee shop in the park. I am told all of this was done for the princely sum of one dollar per year rent. So who was the lucky leaseholder?
“I strongly urge the Minister for Local Government to undertake an immediate investigation into all points raised by me today. The state of affairs at Liverpool City Council is deplorable and the ratepayers and businesses deserve much better.’’
I support the Mayor in this and call upon LIVERPOOL Council to conduct an INDEPENDENT investigation into each and every one of the allegations as its put a smear on the entire Council. Not just the Mayor.