Blanco on blast: Port Hedland councillor apologises publicly after being censured

A Port Hedland councillor has been censured after accusing the town’s administration of improper conduct in the latest controversy to hit the troubled north-west council. Cr Camilo Blanco was officially censured by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries’ Local Government Standards Panel on September 4 for comments made at the November 2023 ordinary council meeting. The panel found Cr Blanco breached two local government regulations when he made various comments accusing the town’s administration of improper conduct. “Cr Blanco’s conduct was found to be inappropriate and to falsely adversely reflect upon the town’s administrative staff,” they said in a notice of public censure. In an apology posted to the Town of Port Hedland website, Cr Blanco said his accusations were “unfounded”. “I acknowledge that I should not have made the relevant comments and I now apologise to the town’s administrative staff, the town and my fellow councillors,” he said. Despite the public apology, Cr Blanco later commented on a Town of Port Hedland Facebook post announcing the censure, with the comment receiving 42 likes, more than the post itself. “I’m not apologising to anyone, I have done nothing wrong, Local government is a joke!” Cr Blanco said. Cr Blanco said he was censured in relation to an item at the August 2023 ordinary council meeting concerning the approval of a home business massage service development application for a property in South Hedland. At the November meeting, the councillor claimed the Town’s administration had turned a blind eye to evidence supplied in an objection to the application by another resident that the property was a brothel and engaged in a “cover-up” to mislead council. “...it seems like there is some sort of cover-up going on here to minimise any reputational damage to the administration,” Cr Blanco said. The Town of Port Hedland pushed back against the allegations and director of regulatory services Craig Watts said councillors had been informed of the resident’s objection. “Any suggestion that elected members or members of the community are being misled is incorrect,” he said. “The public documents provided to elected members to inform decision-making on the establishment of a home business clearly stated an objection had been received.” Ultimately, an alternative officer’s recommendation was put forward and endorsed by council which noted insufficient evidence had been provided for a revocation of the council decision, and instead requested the chief executive continue to conduct investigations into the business. It is the latest in a long string of controversies that have plagued the troubled north-west council for the past several years. Just last week, Cr Blanco again butted heads with the State Government when he challenged the DLGSC to issue a show cause notice. “If they send it, they’ll be facing a lawsuit in the Supreme Court,” he warned, adding that the Department would be “slapped” in court as they “don’t have any evidence”. It came after the Department sent a letter outlining concerns over dysfunction within the council in March. The council adopted an improvement plan at its August meeting to address the concerns. Cr Blanco was mayor in 2019 when the State Government last stepped in to manage issues in the town after 18 months of ongoing complaints. All councillors were suspended, with former State MP Fred Riebeling appointed as commissioner and administering the town’s affairs for more than a year.