Oz mayor stole cash for Darth Vader voice distorter
Council funds rumpus rocks Darwin
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The lord mayor of Darwin remains defiant after being found guilty of stealing council funds to buy "a fridge, underwear and a Darth Vader voice distorter", The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Peter Adamson, 47, was convicted on four charges, including "stealing and making a false statement in declaration". The court heard he'd gone on a "spending spree" with council cash "less than 24 hours before the end of the 2005/06 financial year", in the process buying "a $910 fridge and $1,800 worth of gift vouchers".
The gift vouchers were in turn used to buy "women's underwear, the Star Wars character voice distorter, and a punching bag" - all later recovered from his home or office. The fridge eventually turned up in an East Timorese thrift store*, despite Adamson's signed declaration he'd given it to a needy family. The gift vouchers, he also declared, were handed out to "various organisations for the purpose of fundraising".
It's the fridge scandal which has particularly incensed the locals. Adamson, who's been on leave since December, further fuelled the controversy when he and his missus "attended a New Year's Eve party dressed as the offending white good and a police officer".
In the end, and despite his lawyer's assertion that Adamson was "the victim of internal council backstabbing, likening him to a sacrificial lamb and his work environment to 'a pool of sharks with blood in the water'", magistrate Vince Luppino decided the defendant had "lied on a number of occasions" and duly rejected his defence.
Luppino said in his judgement: "I find that the defendant had the intention to deceive. The defendant did not intend to donate the fridge or the vouchers and instead he has used both as if they were his own property."
Emerging from court, Adamson maintained his innocence and refused to resign, declaring to reporters: "I know, myself, that I at no stage stole or have been dishonest."
He confirmed he was considering an appeal, describing it as "a very serious option". He continued: "I need to consider all those things, but the reality is at the moment I have done everything up until now in the best interests of the city.
"I was voted in by the people of Darwin and I have tried to show that leadership. Obviously, I have been very disappointed with the behaviour of many of my colleagues, anyway... I've had my day in court and we'll go from there." ®
Bootnote
*We assume the SMH means a thrift store in Darwin run by East Timorese, rather than a thrift shop run by East Timorese in East Timor. Mind you, stranger things have happened...
COMMENTS
Silly Boy...
Yeah, isn't our lord Mayor great! A few years back when the voting happened though, he was the more trust worthy candidate... *sigh*
That fridge though is what started most of this off. After he bought it (with council funds) he (and his other half) used it in his luxury apartment in the city before someone discovered it was there instead of with a "needy family" or thrift shop. Mysteriously however, it was found a week or two later in the thrift shop (which is in Darwin btw, not East Timor).
It's amusing how he's basically wreaked his political carer (I know I'm not voting for him next time, if he even bothers running) by stealing less than AU$3,000, when he could have afforded all this stuff off his on back anyway!
All Australians are criminals
I don't know about the rest of the world, but in Australia a Local Council that doesn't overspend it's budget each year has it's budget *reduced* by the amount it didn't spend. In the teeming urban metropolii like Sydney, this means a suburb-wide attack of 'traffic calming devices' (or f%$&ng speed humps - no wonder everyone wants a 4WD!) about a week before the EOFY.
I'm guessing the Darwin Mayor correctly surmised that the roads up there are so shit a speed hump won't make a difference, everyone has a 4WD and is perpeptually drunk at the wheel anyway. No-one would notice. A fridge with a Darth Vader voice? Actually, most people there would still be too drunk to notice.
On the other hand, he might just be bent. Blimey, that would be a surprise, a council officer on the take. Huzzah.
As a wise man once said:
"Australia is peopled entirely by criminals" - Vizzini
East Timor
The fridge showed up in East Timor (it's not that far away).
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