City of Launceston in the frame

THE EXAMINER

Editorial | April 27, 2020 

Whether rightly or wrongly, councils are among the most heavily criticised and scrutinised organisations in any regional community. 

Few would deny that the City of Launceston's $8.5 million coronavirus support package was a vital injection into our local economy, attempting to fill part of the void left by the economic downturn. 

Central to this was the opportunity to transition businesses to a new playing field during the pandemic, where online delivery of services was vital in our contactless society. 

It's an area were many of our businesses, particularly more traditional ones, have little experience. They also needed help getting the message out there. 

The council's innovation grants needed to be provided quickly to make this transition smooth. But speed has almost certainly been their downfall. 

And it's meant that some of the very businesses the council intended to support may have missed out altogether, thanks to the design of the rollout. 

The allegations surrounding the distribution of $550,000 in Level 2 grants were extremely concerning. The wide range of individuals making criticisms - from prominent local business people, to small business owners - give an indication that there were issues. 

And the issues were so severe that they've polarised a significant segment of the business community, who saw inequity in the grant recipients. 

They also saw alleged predatory behaviour from a company that, many claim, saw the grants as an opportunity to sign up as many businesses as possible to boost their client base, while also ensuring these businesses had to work with them when they received the grant. 

As Premier Peter Gutwein has said, he's not afraid of necessary oversight during this time of massive government expenditure. Even the federal government has allowed Senate oversight of its actions. 

Councillors must allow an independent audit to get to the bottom of this grant scheme to assure ratepayers that funds are going to businesses that need them most.

City of Launceston backs call for independent audit of grants 
Adam Holmes Local News

The City of Launceston has recommended an independent audit of its innovation grants program, but it will be up to councillors to decide if the audit goes ahead.

Councillor Tim Walker will move a motion at Thursday's council meeting calling for the audit in response to a range of community concerns about oversight of $550,000 in grants, delivered as part of a response to the coronavirus pandemic.

 Related:'First in, best dressed' grant scheme prompts call for audit 

Concern included the speed at which the grants were approved and whether appropriate oversight could have been applied, and that a marketing company quickly signed businesses up to the program to help increase its client base, among other issues.

Chief executive officer Michael Stretton recommended that an independent audit be carried out, including assessing whether "genuine need" and "innovative solutions" criteria had been met, the administration of the entry and awarding process, and if due diligence had been applied to costings and co-contributions.

In his report, Mr Stretton said it was common for people to "take exception" when they miss out on a grant which could "manifest in complaints about the process".

"Of course, in most cases such complaints are more conjecture than fact, which is why an independent audit process is important to provide confidence to the community that their rates have been effectively spent," he wrote.

"In recognising the need for an audit of the grants program, it does not in any way lessen the fact that the City of Launceston should be proud of the work undertaken by its officers to assist its community, not only through the grants programme, but the entire $8.9 million Community Care and Recovery Package." 

The council reiterated its commitment to releasing a full list of successful grant applicants "once the process is finalised".