Council
25 January, 2022
Candidacy guidelines fuel accusations at Horsham council meeting
Horsham Rural City Councillors had a heated discussion over adopting State or Federal Candidate guidelines.
NEWLY adopted Horsham Rural City Council guidelines have sparked a rift between the councillors following accusations of bullying.
Councillor adopted Councillor Standing as a State or Federal Candidate guidelines in the council meeting on January 24.
The guidelines refer to councillors declaring their intent to nominate to the chief executive and council, requesting a leave of absence from council duties, differentiation between roles, immediate resignation from council if successfully elected, seeking independent legal advice, avoiding any conflict of interests, councillor’s code of conduct and the use of council resources during the election period.
Compared to the MAV guidelines, the council included an additional recommendation that councillors seek independent legal advice and it also expanded on the use of council activities and resources for a federal or state campaign, including how councillors approach the media.
The remaining guidelines were identical to the MAV guidelines.
Cr Haenel said councillors were under no obligation to take leave of absence during an election period.
“They only need to abide by the overarching Local Government Act, you can’t just remove an elected councillor by bullying them into taking leave of absence which is exactly what this was trying to do,” she said.
Cr Haenel announced in December 2021 that she would run for the federal seat of Mallee in the 2022 election as an independent.
Cr Haenel said that while she hadn’t officially nominated for the federal election, she believed the policy was presented to council because she had announced her intention.
“If I do actually nominate I have received advice and am under no legal obligation to take leave of absence and I have no intention of taking leave of absence as I will continue to be a councillor for the community who elected me until I am successfully elected to Canberra,” she said.
“I’ve already put you on notice Madam Mayor, if you try to enforce this heavy handed policy, now guidelines I will go to the media over it and I stand by my word.
“The policy is a continuation of the bullying, harassment and victimisation I’ve experienced under your watch and I am calling it out.”
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Mayor Robyn Gulline did not respond to the comments during the meeting but later told ABC Wimmera that she will seek legal advice regarding Cr Haenel’s “threat”.
Cr David Bowe moved to adopt the draft policy before Cr Ian Ross moved an amendment to alter the word policy to guidelines.
Cr Ross said the Municipal Association of Victoria had guidelines that stated the expectations of councillors running in state and federal elections.
“The Act is very clear that once you are nominated you should stand aside and once you are elected you must then resign from council,” he said.
“If you make a policy that is stronger than the (Local Government) Act, how do you enforce that, as some of the things here are stronger than what the Act says.
“It opens us up for all sorts of challenges to the policy and legal challenges whereas if you put them as guidelines it alleviates all those problems.”
Cr Claudia Haenel said she was glad the policy had become guidelines as it had no legal standing.
“It simply requests by stating would, could, should, it recommends,” she said.
“The only relevance is the Local Government Act where it states the councillor needs to keep the federal candidacy activities separate and notify the chief executive as soon as elected.
“This is just more red tape that we don’t need, a waste of council staff time at the expense of the ratepayer; how much does it cost in time and money to copy guidelines that are already available into additional policies.”
Cr Ross said as guidelines the document provided good advice for any councillor wishing to stand.
“It simply covers us legally to say what we think is best practice and then how the individual treats that and manages that is up to them,” he said.
“If it’s seen to be good enough for MAV to call it guidelines I would think it’s wise if we did also.”
The amendment passed four to two, with Cr David Bowe and Cr Gulline voting against.
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Cr Bowe said that his understanding was that the document was guided and supported by the position of the Municipal Association of Victoria.
“I believe it also gives a clear understanding to councillors, council, community and media of a councillor’s role in council and when they stand as candidate in the state or federal election,” he said.
“(It) ensures that any conflicts of interest or comments or actions are declared and managed which includes any conflicts of interest that may arise as a result of being a candidate in state or federal election.”
The motion passed five to one, as Cr Haenel voted against, and Cr Penny Flynn absent.