Suspended Whittlesea councillor Aidan McLindon has ruled out apologising for comments about members of the LGBTQIA+ and First Peoples communities which were labelled as “concerning” by commissioners investigating Whittlesea council.
The Commission of Inquiry into Whittlesea council, tabled in state parliament on 14 October, found Mr McLindon’s conduct between his election to council in October 2024 and his suspension in April 2025 was “detrimental to the council”.
The commissioners said Mr McLindon “ demonstrated extremely poor conduct” and made comments on social media about members of the LGBTQIA+ and First Peoples communities that showed “ at the very least, a disregard for how they affect other people”.
The Commission of Inquiry found his comments brought the council into disrepute.
“Mr McLindon’s public comments, in all likelihood, helped perpetuate prejudicial and aggressive comments by other people in social media,” the report stated,
“Some comments are particularly concerning, such as the use of the term ‘sexploitation’ in connection with matters relevant to the LGBTQIA+ community or suggestions that members of the First Peoples community have acted against their community for financial gain by opposing Australia Day.”
According to the commissioners, nine council staff lodged a “psychological incident or distress report” following published remarks by Mr McLindon.
Despite the findings, the commissioners said there was no evidence to warrant a further suspension of Mr McLindon. He will return to council on Friday 17 October having served a six-month suspension.
Speaking to Star Weekly, Mr McLindon said he would not apologise for his remarks.
He said he campaigned for election to council with a policy on “child-safe public areas”, which he believed had “overwhelming” support from the community.
He said the policy was not controversial.
“I don’t need to apologise for something I fundamentally believe in,” he said.
“That is my belief.
“It is my political belief … no one can take those away from me.”
The report was also critical of Mr McLindon’s performance as mayor.
He was elected as Whittlesea mayor in November 2024, backed at the time by six of his colleagues.
The commissioners said Mr McLindon “failed” in several essential respects to perform the role of a mayor, finding that he did not commit the time and effort needed.
Mr McLindon disputed this, telling Star Weekly he dedicated “70-80 hours” a week to the role, while also working part-time.
He said he remained working three days per week “as a safety net”.
Mr McLindon said he felt that he “wasn’t welcomed at all” at council from the beginning.
“Councillors and the CEO need to reflect on what went wrong,” he told Star Weekly.
“I think they were out to get me. If they weren’t out to get me, I would have went through mediation [instead of internal arbitration].
“No mediation ever took place, no natural justice was given.”
Mr McLindon said he was looking forward to working “productively and amicably” with council chief executive Craig Lloyd and the other councillors upon his return.
However, he felt Mr Lloyd’s tenure as chief executive should have been for the duration of council’s administration period plus a three-month handover to the new council.
Council was under administration from March 2020 until October 2024 after the previous council was sacked by the state government. Mr Lloyd was appointed chief executive in October 2020.
“That is where I think we went wrong,” Mr McLindon told Star Weekly.
“He had to wear the role of mayor during the administrators and attend sod turns and photo opps.”
