Investigation to find out where Kiama council's finances went south could be on the cards

Council has identified past errors, such as restricted funds incorrectly used to pay for the construction of Blue Haven, but to date there has been no further indications of what happened - other than it occurred under previous council administrations.

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At the moment, both council and the Office of Local Government are focused on getting Kiama's finances sorted with an investigation not ruled out down the line.

"The Office of Local Government (OLG) is continuing to monitor Kiama council's compliance with the Performance Improvement Order issued in November 2022, including reviewing the compliance reports provided by the council and the independent financial advisor," a spokeswoman for Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig said.

"After June 30, the Minister will consider the final compliance report in consultation with OLG, and whether further action is needed."

Kiama Mayor Neil Reilly said council had a range of documents relating to the financial situation, which were confidential due to the fact they mention former council staff members by name.

He said that, while he wasn't sure whether anything had been done illegally, Cr Reilly said there was a belief in council that "some things have been done unlawfully".

The distinction between the two is that an illegal act is one that breaches criminal law while "unlawful" pertains to civil law.

Cr Reilly said council's immediate focus was on steadying the ship, with any potential investigation being the responsibility of other bodies.

"That's really not our role - we're here to create a strategy to bring the best of living in this community to our residents," Cr Reilly said.

"There are others who look at those things [investigations]. We have passed all of our reports onto the OLG as they have requested. We have passed those reports onto the Auditor General's office office as requested and we've passed those reports onto the Treasury Corporation.

"They may want to look further. My interest is in fixing the problem not apportioning blame. They've got the same documents we've got and they probably have a much better grasp of the laws as there were then to what we have."

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