A Darebin councillor has been suspended from council for two weeks and must publicly apologise after an arbiter found he had engaged in misconduct by disparaging fellow councillors.
Tim Laurence’s misconduct included calling a fellow councillor a “man child”; posting on social media that one councillor had ordered another to “sit like a dog” and treated them “like an animal”; and claiming that the council had engaged in political corruption and maladministration.
The Darebin City Council tabled the arbiter’s report at its council meeting on Monday evening.Credit:JasonSouth
The internal arbitration was brought by Darebin councillor Susanne Newton, who made 12 allegations of misconduct against Laurence.
The arbiter’s report, which was tabled at the Darebin City Council meeting on Monday evening and has been released on the council’s website, describes the scope of what constitutes “robust debate” between councillors.
Claims by Laurence that were deemed allowable under robust debate included “using a council budget to do state pork barrelling in a marginal seat”, calling councillors a “Greens minority dictatorship”, and alleging that Mayor Lina Messina engaged in “crude Morrison-like spin and doublespeak”.
However, the arbiter Joel Silver was critical of Laurence’s justification for his behaviour.
“Laurence’s argument (and I am summarising its effect, rather than his words) was that his misconduct must be understood with reference to the alleged poor behaviour of other councillors and that he had no ability to hold them to account without engaging in misconduct himself,” Silver wrote in the report. “If local government were the Wild West, that might be true.”
He described Laurence’s conduct as “dramatic”, “unpersuasive”, “unpleasant”, “unproductive”, “inaccurate and prone to mislead”, “uncompromising” and “unhelpful”.
Silver found Laurence’s behaviour “demands condemnation and punishment”, and suspended him from council for two weeks and ordered him to repeat his councillor induction training.
Laurence must also deliver a public apology at a council meeting “at which he notes that an arbiter has found that he has engaged in misconduct by disparaging his fellow councillors and apologising sincerely for that behaviour”.
Laurence said he was unable to comment because of a policy that prohibits councillors from speaking to the media without approval.
Darebin council chief executive Peter Smith said it was a requirement that councillors refrained from debating or commenting on the findings in the arbiter’s report.
“Darebin council will continue to work with councillors to improve governance at the council, including ensuring that councillors are aware of their role and responsibilities within the Local Government Act and the need to adhere to the Darebin Councillor Code of Conduct in their interactions with each other, council staff and members of the community,” he said.
Newton declined to comment and Messina did not respond to requests for comment.
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‘If local government were the Wild West’: Darebin councillor suspended after misconduct ruling - The Age
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