The council's suspension over Mr Tooma's alleged conflict would likely impugn the integrity of his interim report, which was handed to the council’s lawyers on Friday. It may also derail the remainder of his inquiry, which is two weeks away from completion. According to two sources with independent knowledge of its content, the report contains damning findings against a number of council employees in relation to a council depot site in Lawson, where workers were allegedly exposed to asbestos-contaminated material. The alleged conflict of interest between Mr Tooma and Mr Mulligan was first aired by Mr Hadley on his morning show on February 13, when he told his listeners a friendship between the pair had imperilled the independence of Mr Tooma’s inquiry. “Mr Tooma in my opinion has surrendered his ability to be independent,” Mr Hadley said. In the same broadcast, he issued calls for Ms Upton to sack the council, and for Mr Tooma to resign.

The following day, Minister Upton wrote a letter to Cr Greenhill detailing her intention to suspend the council, citing concerns that “the processes adopted by council did not ensure that prior associations were disclosed to the council when engaging Mr Tooma”. Mayor Mark Greenhill claimed local government minister Gabrielle Upton had been “led into error” and acted upon “inaccurate information” when she moved to suspend the council last week. Ms Upton’s suspension letter also incorrectly identified Mr Mulligan’s position as the council’s chief safety officer. The council was given seven days to respond to Minister Upton's suspension order which, if executed, will see an interim administrator appointed for three months. The council’s submission, prepared by Cr Greenhill, said Ms Upton stood “ready and willing to end democratic government for a period of up to six months, based on inadequate information and, in one very material respect, inaccurate information.”

It framed Ms Upton’s action as a direct response to the allegations aired by Mr Hadley, and said “the minister appears to have been led into error on very important issues”. The council submitted that Mr Hadley had made an “untrue statement regarding the role of Mark Mulligan,” where he claimed Mr Mulligan was responsible for the council’s asbestos management plan. Loading After detailing this alleged misinformation, the submission concluded "the minister’s [suspension] letter proceeds on the assumption that Mr Mulligan exercised responsibilities in the council that he never exercised. “Mr Mulligan has never been the council’s chief safety officer, nor has Mr Mulligan worked as an employee of the council with responsibility for the development of the council’s asbestos management plan or the council’s response to emerging asbestos issues.”

The submission won the support of a majority of councillors at an extraordinary council meeting on Tuesday, and will be handed to Minister Upton on Thursday. It is the second suspension threat the council has faced in two months. Ms Upton resolved not to enforce a similar suspension order in December, instead issuing the council with a performance improvement order. The submission also included evidence of email exchanges between Mr Tooma and the council’s solicitors McPhee Kelshaw Solicitors & Conveyancers, during which Mr Tooma confirmed "that there are no conflicts," before he accepted the investigation role. The council retained law firm Maddocks to urgently review the adequacy of this process. Maddocks' advice, contained in the council’s submission, concluded it was reasonable for the council’s solicitors to rely on Mr Tooma’s assertions.

The firm, however, was not asked to determine whether Mr Tooma’s actions were appropriate or whether a conflict did in fact exist. Mr Tooma and his firm, in recent statements to the Herald, did not dispute a pre-existing relationship between Mr Tooma and Mr Mulligan, saying the pair had known each other "for many years." Mr Tooma served a legal advisor to Essential Energy, where Mr Mulligan was employed as a safety executive until 2012, at which point their professional and social relationship ended, according to the council's submission. Mr Tooma, in comments to the Herald last week, said no present conflict existed because Mr Mulligan’s employment by the council began one week before the investigation commenced, placing him outside the scope of the inquiry. He said the terms of reference required him to investigate council's asbestos management processes over a 15-year period up until the most recent allegation in May 2017, a period which pre-dated Mr Mulligan's appointment to the council.

The council's submission also made public the ten recommendations made by Mr Tooma as part of his interim report, which included extensive reviews of existing council policies and staff roles, as well as implementing new programs and staff training programs. A separate independent investigation, conducted by McCullough Robertson solicitors, is currently examining the council's recruitment practices, including Mark Mulligan’s employment as a contractor for three months in 2016, and then his later appointment as acting director of service delivery. Mr Mulligan's 12-month contract with the council ended prematurely last week. A council spokeswoman described his departure as being "on mutual terms". "The mayor takes so many positions he should be a contortionist," Mr Hadley told Fairfax Media in an email last night. "My relentless attacks are to protect the workers and residents from the long-term effects of exposure to asbestos. A duty the council has for years has failed to address.

"To suggest a minister of [the] Crown relies purely on my program for her information is arrant nonsense." Ms Upton declined to comment. Do you know more? Email lisa.visentin@fairfaxmedia.com.au