Further to last week’s editorial regarding Gunnedah Chamber of Commerce’s reluctance to provide transparency and invoices for the Christmas fair expenditure, the Chamber has no reason to obfuscate about providing actual invoices for public consumption.
No one questions the volunteer efforts and work put in by the members and executive, however I am of the view that it is false to try to hide invoicing behind some elusive Australian privacy and commercial confidentiality laws supposedly protecting the rights of third party service providers. I would be interested to know the actual provisions, ie Act and section, said to require this.
Providing an invoice to a non-for-profit, community organisation cannot ever be expected to be sent in secrecy or confidentiality, and I know of no such provider who would normally have any issue with invoices being made available to members and the public, particularly where ratepayer funds are being partly used for the payment.
The suggestion that providing the invoices would in some way compromise business partnerships, is complete nonsense. This does not relate to some secretive or sensitive commercial process.
What is the partnership, with whom, and what is compromised?
The suggestion that the Chamber’s efforts at resistance to openness is in some way causing work, is also ludicrous. Sending the invoices would be a simple non time consuming solution, trying to hide them is what diverts resources.
The issue with council’s request for refund is also a live one. If the indication of no refund sought initially was an error, this is a mistake of fact not binding upon council.
I call upon the Chamber to openly provide the invoices requested without further obfuscation.
Stewart Michel, Gunnedah
