Kalbarri holiday unit owners sue ANF WA, accuse nurses’ union of running complex into disrepair

The nurses’ union is being sued by fellow unit owners at a Kalbarri holiday resort over allegations it ran the complex into disrepair after unlawfully getting management contracts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Court documents lodged in the State Administrative Tribunal this week allege the union twice used its majority vote at annual general meetings of unit owners — in 2019 and 2021 — to secure the management contracts, worth nearly $600,000 over four years. The Australian Nursing Federation WA owns about 70 of the 114 units in the Kalbarri Riverview Holiday Resort, formerly known as the Kalbarri Beach Resort. The contract agreement was signed by then-State secretary Mark Olson. But a group of 12 unit owners claim it was a conflict of interest under the Strata Titles Act, claiming the union was legally obliged to disqualify itself from the vote. Further breaches of the Act allegedly include not putting either contract up for tender and failing to disclose the terms, responsibilities and obligations of the contract with other owners. The minority unit owners in the resort are seeking compensation for the breaches which they claim cost them financially. The case has prompted Federal ANF branch executive member Samantha Fenn to call for scrutiny of the WA union’s $40 million portfolio of nearly 100 properties, claiming it would “provide greater surety going forward”. The documents claim the strata company allowed the union to “oppress other unit owners” who tried to raise contentious issues at the AGM, including urgent maintenance issues. It is alleged the union breached sections of the Act requiring them to keep common property in good repair, claiming it failed to repair potholes in the driveway, and oversaw broken flyscreens, weeds, dirty windows and overflowing waste. Mr Olson is currently the union’s chief executive and is due to step down soon. But he will stay as a union councillor. ANF State secretary Janet Reah said she was unaware of any action in the SAT. She said the ANF was asked by the owners to take over the rundown complex in December 2018. The union had since improved it, including the replacement or upgrade of the electricity grid, and replacing the 30-year-old air conditioning system.