General News
27 February, 2025
Charity event postponed after 'seriously defamatory allegations' aired
The charity's chief executive has strenuously denied the claims.
The organiser of an event that aimed to bring people back to the fire-ravaged Grampians region has strenuously denied allegations about its legitimacy.
Disaster Recovery Army, which is on the ground in the area helping people affected by the Boxing Day blazes, had organised a two-day event - Recover Grampians.
Disaster Recovery Army chief executive Jay Brady told ACM in February the event would feature live music, a hole-in-one golf competition, food and wine tasting and family-friendly activities.
The website for the event was taken down on Wednesday after a video was posted to social media by Halls Gap resident Blanche Leithhead, who made a number of allegations about the planned event.
Ms Leithhead claimed community organisations had not been consulted and businesses had not been approached by the charity.
Mr Brady said the allegations were "very serious" and "defamatory".
"There have been some very serious and seriously defamatory allegations said about all sorts of issues," he said.
"They are being dealt with by solicitors right now.
"What has been said is untruthful and unverified.
"It's very damaging not only to Grampians communities but also to us as a charity, our volunteers and the people who need help with recovery work."
He said he had consulted with community groups and had arrangements in place with a number of businesses.
He admitted there was push-back from some community groups and a decision was made to change the date of the event.
"We initially changed the date of the event to accommodate those groups but some groups from the Halls Gap community were still not happy with that," he said.
He said the event would go ahead at a later date.
Mr Brady said the allegations made were hurtful.
"This has been organised with the right intentions and it has been misconstrued," he said.
Mr Brady said the charity would continue to help people affected by the fires.
"The last thing we want to do is walk away from communities that need help," he said.
Northern Grampians Shire Council chief executive Brent McAlister said he had met with Mr Brady on several occasions.
"We were first approached by the CEO on January 13," Mr McAlister said.
"We provided him with some event registration and didn't hear back."
Mr McAlister said the council was approached by a number of community members who had concerns local businesses and groups were not being consulted by event organisers.
He said he again met with Mr Brady and encouraged him to meet with and gain the support of groups involved with the recovery efforts after the bushfires.
"We didn't officially endorse the event, but at the end of the day, if anyone wants to run an event on private property - as long as they have the right permission - we're not going to stop it," he said.
Mr McAlister said the council expected people organising recovery events to work with them.