Clausen accuses Newcastle lord mayor of 'rewriting history' over deleted airport posts
Cr Clausen said this week that, over the past few days, several of the lord mayor's "most inflammatory posts" about Newcastle Airport, including one where he "boasted" about writing to the Minister and Office of Local Government, have "quietly disappeared".
"Every major decision about the airport was made lawfully, responsibly, and with proper controls and oversight, including from a professional board and external auditor," Cr Clausen said.
"But instead of correcting the record or apologising to the airport and our fellow shareholder, Port Stephens Council, lord mayor Kerridge is quietly deleting the evidence. This isn't leadership."
Cr Clausen said that following the Davidson Business Advisory review, which was released last month, he went looking to confirm "false claims" in one of Cr Kerridge's past posts when he noticed they had been deleted.
The lord mayor said there were differing opinions about how to handle past Facebook posts.
"I was getting messages from the airport indirectly and advice that I should take them down," he said.
"Other people think, 'No, hang on, you should leave them up because you're trying to change history, ' but I made a decision to take them down, and coincidentally, almost immediately, criticism started that I'd taken them down."
The lord mayor's posts were made following a Newcastle Herald investigation revealing the airport faced significant financial pressures. Cr Kerridge also wrote to the NSW Office of Local Government calling for an investigation of the "true" financial position of Newcastle Airport, a move he raised in one of his now-deleted posts.
The airport, which in recent days has announced a new route to Perth and its first year-round international flights, has repeatedly denied any financial issues.
Cr Clausen said deleting social media posts "doesn't undo the damage" to the airport or ratepayers and said the community deserves public accountability from the lord mayor, "not revisionism".
He said the outcomes of the Davidson Business Advisory review confirmed there "was no financial mismanagement" or "governance failures" at the airport.
The Davison review into the council's policies, processes and procedures did not conduct a detailed financial analysis of Newcastle Airport's financial positions and operations.
However, the review report said it is "considered unlikely" that any significant financial risks will be transferred to the City of Newcastle and said the appointment of board directors was carried out with the "necessary governance and council approvals"
The review found enhanced oversight by the council's Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee (ARIC) will be beneficial and has been established with annual reporting and, from December 2024, quarterly reporting.
Asked whether an apology or correction, as requested from his fellow councillors, would be forthcoming, Cr Kerridge said he thinks it's time to "move on".
"I think some people are getting a little bit heated and emotive and trying to prolong this discussion," he said.
"I think the rights and wrongs of this argument are going to go on for a long time, and I think it would be far better if we moved on.
"Not only that, I think the general community is getting distressed by watching all this behaviour, and I think we need to move on."
NEWCASTLE Labor councillor Declan Clausen has accused Ross Kerridge of "quietly re-writing airport history" after a series of posts raising concerns about its financial position were deleted from the lord mayor's Facebook page.
Cr Clausen said this week that, over the past few days, several of the lord mayor's "most inflammatory posts" about Newcastle Airport, including one where he "boasted" about writing to the Minister and Office of Local Government, have "quietly disappeared".
"Every major decision about the airport was made lawfully, responsibly, and with proper controls and oversight, including from a professional board and external auditor," Cr Clausen said.
"But instead of correcting the record or apologising to the airport and our fellow shareholder, Port Stephens Council, lord mayor Kerridge is quietly deleting the evidence. This isn't leadership."
Cr Clausen said that following the Davidson Business Advisory review, which was released last month, he went looking to confirm "false claims" in one of Cr Kerridge's past posts when he noticed they had been deleted.
The lord mayor said there were differing opinions about how to handle past Facebook posts.
"I was getting messages from the airport indirectly and advice that I should take them down," he said.
"Other people think, 'No, hang on, you should leave them up because you're trying to change history, ' but I made a decision to take them down, and coincidentally, almost immediately, criticism started that I'd taken them down."
The lord mayor's posts were made following a Newcastle Herald investigation revealing the airport faced significant financial pressures. Cr Kerridge also wrote to the NSW Office of Local Government calling for an investigation of the "true" financial position of Newcastle Airport, a move he raised in one of his now-deleted posts.
The airport, which in recent days has announced a new route to Perth and its first year-round international flights, has repeatedly denied any financial issues.
Cr Clausen said deleting social media posts "doesn't undo the damage" to the airport or ratepayers and said the community deserves public accountability from the lord mayor, "not revisionism".
He said the outcomes of the Davidson Business Advisory review confirmed there "was no financial mismanagement" or "governance failures" at the airport.
The Davison review into the council's policies, processes and procedures did not conduct a detailed financial analysis of Newcastle Airport's financial positions and operations.
However, the review report said it is "considered unlikely" that any significant financial risks will be transferred to the City of Newcastle and said the appointment of board directors was carried out with the "necessary governance and council approvals"
The review found enhanced oversight by the council's Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee (ARIC) will be beneficial and has been established with annual reporting and, from December 2024, quarterly reporting.
Asked whether an apology or correction, as requested from his fellow councillors, would be forthcoming, Cr Kerridge said he thinks it's time to "move on".
"I think some people are getting a little bit heated and emotive and trying to prolong this discussion," he said.
"I think the rights and wrongs of this argument are going to go on for a long time, and I think it would be far better if we moved on.
"Not only that, I think the general community is getting distressed by watching all this behaviour, and I think we need to move on."
NEWCASTLE Labor councillor Declan Clausen has accused Ross Kerridge of "quietly re-writing airport history" after a series of posts raising concerns about its financial position were deleted from the lord mayor's Facebook page.
Cr Clausen said this week that, over the past few days, several of the lord mayor's "most inflammatory posts" about Newcastle Airport, including one where he "boasted" about writing to the Minister and Office of Local Government, have "quietly disappeared".
"Every major decision about the airport was made lawfully, responsibly, and with proper controls and oversight, including from a professional board and external auditor," Cr Clausen said.
"But instead of correcting the record or apologising to the airport and our fellow shareholder, Port Stephens Council, lord mayor Kerridge is quietly deleting the evidence. This isn't leadership."
Cr Clausen said that following the Davidson Business Advisory review, which was released last month, he went looking to confirm "false claims" in one of Cr Kerridge's past posts when he noticed they had been deleted.
The lord mayor said there were differing opinions about how to handle past Facebook posts.
"I was getting messages from the airport indirectly and advice that I should take them down," he said.
"Other people think, 'No, hang on, you should leave them up because you're trying to change history, ' but I made a decision to take them down, and coincidentally, almost immediately, criticism started that I'd taken them down."
The lord mayor's posts were made following a Newcastle Herald investigation revealing the airport faced significant financial pressures. Cr Kerridge also wrote to the NSW Office of Local Government calling for an investigation of the "true" financial position of Newcastle Airport, a move he raised in one of his now-deleted posts.
The airport, which in recent days has announced a new route to Perth and its first year-round international flights, has repeatedly denied any financial issues.
Cr Clausen said deleting social media posts "doesn't undo the damage" to the airport or ratepayers and said the community deserves public accountability from the lord mayor, "not revisionism".
He said the outcomes of the Davidson Business Advisory review confirmed there "was no financial mismanagement" or "governance failures" at the airport.
The Davison review into the council's policies, processes and procedures did not conduct a detailed financial analysis of Newcastle Airport's financial positions and operations.
However, the review report said it is "considered unlikely" that any significant financial risks will be transferred to the City of Newcastle and said the appointment of board directors was carried out with the "necessary governance and council approvals"
The review found enhanced oversight by the council's Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee (ARIC) will be beneficial and has been established with annual reporting and, from December 2024, quarterly reporting.
Asked whether an apology or correction, as requested from his fellow councillors, would be forthcoming, Cr Kerridge said he thinks it's time to "move on".
"I think some people are getting a little bit heated and emotive and trying to prolong this discussion," he said.
"I think the rights and wrongs of this argument are going to go on for a long time, and I think it would be far better if we moved on.
"Not only that, I think the general community is getting distressed by watching all this behaviour, and I think we need to move on."
NEWCASTLE Labor councillor Declan Clausen has accused Ross Kerridge of "quietly re-writing airport history" after a series of posts raising concerns about its financial position were deleted from the lord mayor's Facebook page.
Cr Clausen said this week that, over the past few days, several of the lord mayor's "most inflammatory posts" about Newcastle Airport, including one where he "boasted" about writing to the Minister and Office of Local Government, have "quietly disappeared".
"Every major decision about the airport was made lawfully, responsibly, and with proper controls and oversight, including from a professional board and external auditor," Cr Clausen said.
"But instead of correcting the record or apologising to the airport and our fellow shareholder, Port Stephens Council, lord mayor Kerridge is quietly deleting the evidence. This isn't leadership."
Cr Clausen said that following the Davidson Business Advisory review, which was released last month, he went looking to confirm "false claims" in one of Cr Kerridge's past posts when he noticed they had been deleted.
The lord mayor said there were differing opinions about how to handle past Facebook posts.
"I was getting messages from the airport indirectly and advice that I should take them down," he said.
"Other people think, 'No, hang on, you should leave them up because you're trying to change history, ' but I made a decision to take them down, and coincidentally, almost immediately, criticism started that I'd taken them down."
The lord mayor's posts were made following a Newcastle Herald investigation revealing the airport faced significant financial pressures. Cr Kerridge also wrote to the NSW Office of Local Government calling for an investigation of the "true" financial position of Newcastle Airport, a move he raised in one of his now-deleted posts.
The airport, which in recent days has announced a new route to Perth and its first year-round international flights, has repeatedly denied any financial issues.
Cr Clausen said deleting social media posts "doesn't undo the damage" to the airport or ratepayers and said the community deserves public accountability from the lord mayor, "not revisionism".
He said the outcomes of the Davidson Business Advisory review confirmed there "was no financial mismanagement" or "governance failures" at the airport.
The Davison review into the council's policies, processes and procedures did not conduct a detailed financial analysis of Newcastle Airport's financial positions and operations.
However, the review report said it is "considered unlikely" that any significant financial risks will be transferred to the City of Newcastle and said the appointment of board directors was carried out with the "necessary governance and council approvals"
The review found enhanced oversight by the council's Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee (ARIC) will be beneficial and has been established with annual reporting and, from December 2024, quarterly reporting.
Asked whether an apology or correction, as requested from his fellow councillors, would be forthcoming, Cr Kerridge said he thinks it's time to "move on".
"I think some people are getting a little bit heated and emotive and trying to prolong this discussion," he said.
"I think the rights and wrongs of this argument are going to go on for a long time, and I think it would be far better if we moved on.
"Not only that, I think the general community is getting distressed by watching all this behaviour, and I think we need to move on."
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