Blue Mountains City Council has commenced legal proceedings against the Ray Hadley Morning Show for allegedly defamatory comments, following the recent public inquiry that cleared council of wrong doing.
And the commissioner, Richard Beasley QC, has decided to reopen the inquiry, asking Mr Hadley to provide documents which he claimed showed council staff lied in giving evidence.
In a statement to the Gazette on May 22 a council spokeswoman said Mr Hadley made "reprehensible" and "false accusations" about council and its current and former staff.
"Having failed to assist the Inquiry, and now being unwilling to accept the umpire's finding, Mr Hadley, in his 16 May broadcasts, has - as seems to be his wont - used the bully pulpit of his radio station to attack the council and its personnel instead.
"Mr Hadley's attacks are so serious, and so wrong, that the council has no alternative but to respond."
Richard Beasley, SC, in the first stage of his public inquiry, looked into the appointment of two investigators - one to examine asbestos issues and the other to canvas allegations over the appointment of Mark Mulligan as a safety consultant at council.
He found the investigator employed by council to look into asbestos mismanagement had no conflict of interest and allegations of impropriety made by radio shock jock Ray Hadley over the issue were wrong.
A senior source within council said legal proceedings have been started against the radio host. The legal letters, from the mayor Mark Greenhill and general manager Rosemary Dillon, were sent at no cost to ratepayers.
The source told the Gazette, the council has served a "concerns notice which is the beginning step of defamation action" on 2GB and Mr Hadley.
The council spokeswoman said Mr Hadley knew that the inquiry was being held, but had not attended.
"He claims to have 'proof' of his allegations. He claims that he has whistle-blowers. He, like everyone else, had the opportunity to assist the inquiry by providing information. If he had a genuine commitment to the public interest, he would have done so. But he chose not to do so," the council spokeswoman said.
Mr Hadley said in his program that council's new general manager Rosemary Dillon had "misled the Commissioner".
"The general manager's evidence was truthful, accurate and supported by extensive documentation. There was no lie-except for Mr Hadley's reckless disregard for the truth," the spokeswoman said.
"His false allegations against the council and its personnel, is reprehensible."
Mr Hadley's alleged "the general manager of council and [former human resources manager] Megan TeBay have misled the Commissioner . . . [b]ecause his findings heavily rely on the fact that Mulligan had nothing to do with asbestos, which is just a lie".
The spokeswoman said the statement was "false-and it is scandalously so. Neither the general manager nor Ms TeBay misled the Commissioner. Indeed, Ms TeBay did not even give evidence before the Commissioner."
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