With the foundations of Liverpool City Council being shaken to their core and the new Liverpool Library leaking like a sieve, a select group of Councillors are demonstrating an emerging act of strength on behalf of ratepayers today, proving that no one is above being accountable for their actions including the top job as CEO of Liverpool Council.
Sydney Morning Herald have reported that Councillors Ethan Monaghan and Sam Karnib are demanding Mayor Ned Mannoun to call for an extraordinary meeting of Liverpool Council to consider the immediate suspension of Liverpool Council’s CEO Mr Jason Breton based on evidence presented to the public over the last six weeks public hearings.
Signed by Councillors Ethan Monaghan and Sam Karnib on 9 September 2025, this motion will consider the immediate suspension of CEO Jason Breton—the highest-paid individual on the council, with a staggering salary of nearly $500,000 per annum and seeks to refer all existing evidence from the Public Hearings to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and the Office of Local Government.
The motion calls for swift, uncompromising action and is quite simple in it’s summary : suspend CEO Jason Breton pending an external investigation, refer the evidence to anti-corruption bodies, and appoint Tina Bono as Acting CEO.
At the heart of the motion lies a $1,000 election donation allegedly deposited into Breton’s bank account during his 2021 Local Government campaign with the reference being “Election Contribution”. Testimony under oath during the inquiry claims that Mayor Ned Mannoun orchestrated this donation from Joseph Cannavo of Icon Property Services Pty Ltd. A transaction that was confirmed by a further email from Breton thanking Mannoun for a financial contribution, alongside correspondence dated 9 January 2025 sent to both men and circulated among other council employees suggests now potentially a troubling network of involvement within council.
Transcripts relating to the matter can be found here
Most damning to come out during his testimony which by his own admission has been at times embarrassing, Breton is accused of failing to disclose this donation during at least two recruitment processes for the CEO role—a potential breach of transparency that could undermine his legitimacy as the council’s top executive.
The extraordinary meeting of Council must now be called within the next 14 days by the Mayor and then be considered by all Councillors.
Given that both Mayor Mannoun and Councillor Mathew Harte are both implicated in the matter, we expect that they will be required to declare a conflict of interest and be forced to leave the chamber while the matter is debated and will also not be entitled to cast their vote on the decision.
During Day 28 of the hearings the public also learned about a report (Weir Report) that was requested by Councillors to investigate the potential sacking of previous CEO Mr John Ajaka which recommended that Ajaka not be dismissed. While the final report was delivered to Council on the 13th of June 2024 with an amended report received on the 19th of June, evidence presented confirmed Former Councillor Karess Rhodes had not received the final amended report prior to the Council meeting on the 26th of June.
A statement received by Member of Liverpool Charishma Kaliyanda today who was also a Liverpool Councillor at the time said:
In light of information revealed to the Public Inquiry, it is now clear that I was not provided with all versions of the Weir report prior to the Council meeting in June 2024. We had to struggle relentlessly just to ensure due process was followed and an independent investigation conducted in the first place.
Residents and Ratepayers are now asking why that report was not made available to Councillors given its critical importance. With the responsibility being that of Breton to provide it to Councillors.
Questions remain unanswered by the inquiry. Did Breton purposefully withhold the report and keep the findings secret to ensure that he remained as Acting CEO? Was he instructed by Mayor Mannoun to withhold the report?
Given the now established relationship between the CEO and Mayor prior to coming to office these questions must now be strongly considered.
It seems the most honourable action Mr Breton can take at this point is tender his resignation with immediate effect and not subject ratepayers to his nearly $10,000 a week salary while a costly investigation takes place. The evidence is compelling, and it seems unlikely that any other outcome would signal restoring public trust in Council or be in the best interests of the community.
All eyes of ratepayers and Liverpool Council staff are now firmly fixed on Mr Breton’s next move.
Meanwhile the Mayor of Liverpool Mr Ned Mannoun is yet to give evidence at the Public hearings which have been reported to recommence sometime in October or November. Only the Minister of Local Government has the authority to dismiss the Mayor and we expect that his decision will come swiftly after the final report of the Public Inquiry is published.
We reached out to Liverpool Council and Deputy Mayor Peter Harle for comment regarding the Sydney Morning Herald article and also invited Jason Breton to be interviewed and we will update the community when we receive a reply. Listen in to 89.3 tomorrow morning from 9am as we take The Pulse on Liverpool or join us online at 893fm.com.au for the latest local news concerning your local community.
