A local council at the centre of a national political battleground will take legal action against the NSW government after claims of widespread dysfunction.
The state government has ordered a public inquiry into Liverpool City Council in Sydney's west and will move to postpone its September elections following an investigation into conflicts of interest and general operations.
The council, one of the city's largest and fastest-growing, could be placed in the hands of an independent administrator after a damning interim report found problems with recruitment processes, procurement irregularities and allegations of a toxic work environment.
Liberal mayor Ned Mannoun rejected the findings as "a shopping list of unfounded allegations" and described the move as a "politically motivated attack".
"This is a pure, political play by the Labor government," he told an extraordinary general meeting held on Monday.
"The government doesn't want to have strong voices in Western Sydney who are holding them to account," he added.
"This is an attack on our community."
Councillors voted on a mayoral minute put forward by Mr Mannoun to take legal proceedings to stop the government from proceeding with a public inquiry, postponing the election and suspending the council.
The minute was carried by five votes of Liberal councillors, including the mayor, but voted against by Labor-aligned Betty Green as well as independents Karress Rhodes and Peter Harle.
In defending her vote in favour of a public inquiry, Ms Rhodes said it would give the council the opportunity to have its name cleared.
"If we do not take this opportunity, you're going to leave a large question mark out there in the community that will not go away," she said.
"We must follow due process ... If we do that this council has got nothing to fear."
Ms Green noted a public inquiry was the only option for an open, transparent investigation.
"Sunlight is the best disinfectant," she said.
Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig has written to Mr Mannoun to advise of his plan to suspend the council after a probe identified issues "sufficient in seriousness and volume" to warrant the move.
An interim administrator will be appointed to oversee its operations in place of elected representatives if the move goes ahead, with the council given seven days to respond.
Mr Mannoun said the decision to do so 50 days out from an election was "completely undemocratic".
In 2016 the Liverpool mayor unsuccessfully ran as a Liberal candidate for the federal electorate of Werriwa, a seat held by Labor since 1934.
Liverpool sits in the western-Sydney region, with seats in that area integral to the Liberal party's pathway back to federal power as they look to take outer suburban seats from the ALP.
Among a string of allegations, the report found evidence of Liverpool council jobs being given on "factors other than merit", including the direct appointment of people with political links to council staff.
Mr Mannoun is accused of but denies appointing a solicitor he worked with in the private sector into a $250,000 role, while another director allegedly instructed the hiring of two immediate family members.
Liverpool council covers a population of about 250,000 people in Sydney's southwest and has been overseen by Mr Mannoun since late 2021 after a previous four-year stint in the job that ended in 2016.
The council's area includes swathes of land to be redeveloped for housing, offices and industrial use around the under-construction Western Sydney Airport.
