Asked by Cr Duncan Gair at last Wednesday’s extraordinary meeting whether the rumours were true, Mr Hyde said ICAC guidelines prevented him from making any comment.

Mr Hyde said if there were an allegation to ICAC, he could not speak to anyone about it.

“Those are the rules, I’m not able to comment yay or nay about ICAC investigations,” he said.

Mr Hyde said he was obliged to report anything that suggested corruption may exist to ICAC.

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