Today , 17th August 2010 , I was witness to a spectacle of Corporate Bullying , such as I have never seen before ,and I never want to see again . I was appalled at to blatant and unsubstantiated attack upon the integrity of Narrabri Councils General Manager . Eastern Star Gas’s Mr Roland Sleeman , Chief Commercial Officer and Mr Robert Peterson , General Manager Commercial , gave a brief address to the Council meeting in an open Council session .
The Council meeting was open to the public , and like all of Eastern Star Gas’s addresses was a typical ” how good are we to you ” and what we are going to do here but not to the real benefit of the Narrabri community , just ours . At the end of the talk the Mayor asked Mr Sleeman if Eastern Star Gas was going to participate in a Community Consultation as requested by the Council in April / May 2010 , Mr Sleeman’s was reply , was that Eastern Star Gas had never been contacted by Council , either Mr Sleeman is not telling the truth or the General Manager has concocted a fairy tail of Eastern Star Gas answers over the past few months and lied to Council .
Mr Sleeman had no right to attack the character of the General Manager , and I was personaly affronted by this attack and another statement that he made when pressed on full public consulation , his reply to this was that Eastern Star Gas only wanted to consult with those who were in the immediate area of operation , he went to great pains to stress that Eastern Star Gas did not want to talk to anyone else .
Mr Sleeman , I regret to inform you that what you propose is a system of Dictatorship and that will never be tolerated , even by the most ardent right wing politician.
Mr Sleeman and Mr Peterson looked very nervous and avoided many of the questions that the Councillors had a right to ask , namely: water test analysis , community consultation , what benefits will Narrabri get from the wealth under it ( Eastern Star Gas’s answer here was ” NOTHING ” except to say that at present we employ 60 people but only 20 are company the rest are sub contractors and when all the work is done and Eastern Star Gas is in full production 150 will be employed , but would not give the ratio of Company to sub contractors . Very poor employment figures really , given the scope of this project )
Mr Sleeman’s action toward the General Manager was done in public and his apology should be made the same way and the best time is at the next Council meeting . If Eastern Star Gas chooses not to insist this be done then , then Easter Star Gas must give a full account as to why they wont apologise for the actions of one of their senior staff.
The action of Mr Sleeman ,and to some degree Mr Peterson ( who should have corrected the mistake there and then ) is inexcusable , in my opinion it puts all of Mr Sleeman’s credibility as a spokesman in question but in the past and in the future , Mr Sleeman can claim that he had no knowledge of Council requests , then again by saying this , he then shows that his position to talk about matters such as : Diesel Spills , Drilling Fluid Overflows , Water Treatment , Community Consultation and all other matters that he has spoken on , can be “not quite true ”
The Board of Eastern Star Gas must act against Mr Sleeman for his attack on the General Manager . It was uncalled for and an afront to those who heard it.
Mr Casey, Mr Anderson, it is one thing to attack me, but another to attack Narrabri Council’s General Manager. Let us see some Corporate Leadership, do what any respectable employer would do , insist that a public appoligy at Septembers Council Meeting be made by Mr Sleeman to the General Manager and those offended members of the public. If you decline then Eastern Star Gas’s creditability will be , in many eyes , DAMAGED.
This article was writen by a ratepayer’ who feels stongly enought to feel that the unscripted remarks should never have been said , and the correct answer would have been ” I have not heard of the matter but I will inquire into it ” .
I could also ask for an apology to myself concerning the remarks about Eastern Star Gas only wanting to only talk to those in the immediate theater of operations , and maybe I should , but on the past record of my dealings with this company , well let us just say , communication has been attempted , and leave it there for now .
17-8-2010 amended 19-8-2010