Published on Thursday, 1 October 2026 at 2:23:28 PM
The Shire of East Pilbara has welcomed the completion of the Corruption and Crime Commission’s (CCC) and WA Police investigation into the serious misconduct of former Shire manager Bevan Klein.
The CCC formed an opinion of serious misconduct against Mr Klein and found he deceived the Shire, accepting gifts and benefits from suppliers, deliberately breaching the Shire’s procurement processes.
The report also acknowledges changes the Shire had already made to strengthen its procurement and governance arrangements and identifies areas for further improvement. Those improvements have now been implemented. Shire President Anthony Middleton said the report brought an important independent process to a conclusion.
“This has been a serious matter, and we are pleased the CCC process has now reached this point,” he said.
“The most important thing for our community is that when concerns came to light, they were acted on immediately.
“CEO Steven Harding referred the matter to the CCC as soon as a reasonable suspicion of misconduct was established. The Shire cooperated fully with the investigation, and we have continued to strengthen the organisation since.
“If there are lessons for the Shire, we will learn from them.”
Mr Harding said the report reinforced the importance of being prepared to raise concerns and subject them to independent scrutiny.
“When the relevant concerns became known to me, I believed the right thing to do was to refer them to the CCC immediately because the Shire and the local government sector must not accept this type of corrupt behaviour,” Mr Harding said.
“I stand by that decision. “When something serious comes to light, you don’t hide from it. You deal with it properly.”
Mr Harding said strengthening governance had been an ongoing focus throughout his time as CEO.
“Good governance is something you keep working at. We had already been reviewing our systems and strengthening our controls before this matter came to light, and that work in fact helped us identify the anomalies that warranted reporting to the CCC.
Mr Harding said the conduct identified by the CCC had no place in local government.
“We don’t want people who behave like this working in our sector,” he said.
“Local government employees are trusted to manage public money and make decisions on behalf of their communities. We do not accept corruption in any form.”
The Shire’s procurement policies were reviewed and strengthened in 2021, 2022, 2023 and again in 2025.
Changes include clearer purchasing approvals, stronger documentation and record keeping, improved contract management and oversight, stronger risk and probity requirements and greater oversight of significant procurement decisions.
The Shire has also increased staffing and resources across its procurement and governance functions.
The Shire will continue the work required to establish the full financial impact, if any, arising from Mr Klein’s conduct.
Mr Middleton said no financial loss or legal responsibility would be assumed before the facts were established.
“These are community funds and we have a responsibility to understand whether the Shire has suffered a loss through the misconduct of this former employee,” he said.
“We are still working with WA Police to ascertain if there are any other financial losses over and above the gifts and benefits paid to Mr Klein identified in the report. If money has been stolen from the Shire and there is a proper basis to recover it, we will take every appropriate action available to us.”
Mr Harding said the Shire would continue to act on the findings.
“Our focus now is to keep strengthening the organisation and continue delivering for our community,” he said.
The Shire will carefully consider the final CCC report and determine whether any further action or improvements are required.
You can read the full CCC report here: https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fccc.wa.gov.au%2Fpublications%2Freport-corrupt-procurement-practices-senior-officer-shire-east-pilbara&data=05%7C02%7Cabenkovic%40eastpilbara.wa.gov.au%7C2592729135e046fc440f08df1f8aa3e4%7Ced2434f1149143baa58d7d07aca8ae94%7C0%7C0%7C639264352520913069%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=4aa2jotaAkQmsFm2yJKg1iKpAYdh%2BU8H0SedzPS5RRY%3D&reserved=0
-ENDS-
Back to All News