Blanco makes official complaint to WAEC & police over Local Government Minister comments

Controversial Port Hedland mayoral candidate Camilo Blanco has filed an official complaint to both the WA Electoral Commission and the WA Police over comments from Local Government Minister Hannah Beazley on his eligibility to run in the March local election. It comes after Mr Blanco’s nomination for the local election was green-lit by the WAEC despite advice from the Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety that he was ineligible to run. Mr Blanco’s apparent ineligibility stems from him being barred by the State Administrative Tribunal from holding office for a period of two months — until February 5 — on December 5. According to the Department and Ms Beazley, Section 2.19 and Section 4.48 of the Local Government Act 1995 states a person must be qualified to be elected as a member of council at the end of enrolments, which closed for the Port Hedland election on January 30. Therefore, the department said, Mr Blanco would not meet the qualification criteria and would be ineligible to nominate. In response to Mr Blanco’s nomination, Ms Beazley told the North West Telegraph she was considering legislative changes to stop a similar situation happening again. “As Mr Blanco’s disqualification period ended after the close of enrolments, he is not qualified to be elected as a member of the council,” she said. “There is an anomaly in the Local Government Act that required the returning officer to accept his nomination. In no way should this be taken as confirmation of his eligibility as a candidate. “Should Mr Blanco be elected, it is anticipated that the election result would be challenged in the Court of Disputed Returns. “I am currently considering necessary amendments to the legislation to avoid a similar issue arising in the future.” Following Ms Beazley’s comments, Mr Blanco filed an official complaint with the WAEC and the police alleging Ms Beazley breached “many areas of legislation” and “seriously damaged” his campaign. He also called for Ms Beazley to be removed as the Local Government Minister until “an official investigation is concluded and an outcome (is) issued by the relevant authorised body”. “Minister Hannah Beazley’s comments appear to conflict with several statutory and policy protections, designed to ensure electoral integrity and prevent undue political influence,” Mr Blanco said in his complaint. “Minister Beazley is required to abide by the laws of Western Australia; those laws protect my right to nominate without political interference “In my opinion, the minister has breached her statutory role and seriously damaged my ability to run a fair, unbiased and ‘no political interference’ election campaign. “Allowing the elected government in power to interfere with the electoral cycle will destroy our rights as West Australian electors. This conduct clearly goes against the laws.” Mr Blanco was barred for failing to apologise for comments he made at the November 2023 council meeting accusing the town’s administration of turning a blind eye to alleged evidence a home massage parlour in town was operating as a brothel. However, in its December 5 decision, the SAT found not only had Mr Blanco committed a new “serious breach” by not complying with a previous July 2024 tribunal order to apologise for his comments but that he could “point to nothing” which showed the mayor or members of the Town’s administration had covered up information surrounding the alleged brothel. Opposition Whip in the Legislative Council Neil Thomson characterised Ms Beazley’s comments as a “disgrace”. “To have a minister consider using the Parliament to disbar one candidate — a former Liberal candidate for the Pilbara — just because she doesn’t like him shows where we are at with our democracy. Let the voters of Port Hedland decide who leads them,” he said. A State Government spokesperson said Ms Beazley had nothing further to add to her previous comments.