While West Australian MPs bicker over the details of proposed reforms to the state's local government sector, questions on an investigation into the City of Mandurah have been left unanswered.
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In February, Town Ward councillor Dave Schumacher told the Mandurah Mail the Western Australian Department of Local Government launched a probe into his conduct around the 2017 elections.
Since then, the elected member has been unsuccessfully searching for answers on the allegations against him - allegations Mr Schumacher maintains he still has not received.
Throughout this week, Mandurah MP and WA local government minister David Templeman has been leading the charge on the proposed Local Government Legislation Amendment Bill 2019, which looks to reform the sector.
The minister has been quizzed on each element of the bill in an attempt to iron out its creases before it is voted on in the upper house. Part of the debate even brewed past midnight on Tuesday.
While the sector as a whole is under intense focus, the department's investigation into a local government within the minister's own patch has been met with conflicting reports.
When requested to provide an up-to-date list of all current departmental investigations and their commencement dates in Parliament recently, Mr Templeman revealed the City of Mandurah probe was not deemed as an "active authorised inquiry".
According to his response, the five current active authorised inquiries are for the Shire of Toodyay, Town of Cambridge, Shire of Perenjori, Shire of Carnarvon and City of Melville.
The minister was also requested to provide a list of all completed department inquiries since March 2017, which the City of Mandurah was also not mentioned in.
It was revealed that an investigation into the Shire of Wiluna was concluded in September 2018 and a probe into the City of Joondalup was withdrawn in December 2018.
When asked about the investigation last week, a WA Department of Local Government spokeswoman told the Mail the inquiry was "still ongoing" and that "it would not be appropriate to comment further".
When quizzed to clarify why there was a differing status on the case, the department took a week to respond.
"There is an ongoing investigation that has included liaison with other relevant government agencies. It is inappropriate to comment further so as not to prejudice the integrity of the investigation," a department spokesman told the Mail.
Cr Schumacher said he was still confused and in the dark over the investigation.
"I wouldn't have a clue. [I] don't even know what the allegations are or were. I have never been spoken to by the [Department of Local Government]," Cr Schumacher said.
WA shadow minister for local government Antonio Krsticevic has also demanded answers over Cr Schumacher's situation.
In parliamentary questions dated back to March 13, he asked Mr Templeman why the councillor had not been liaised with, what policies were in place preventing that communication and why the inquiry has taken so long.
Those questions have still not been answered either.
Follow Caitlyn Rintoul on Twitter via @caitlynrintoul or get in touch with her through caitlyn.rintoul@fairfaxmedia.com.au.
