Hannah Hammoud
As many of Victoria’s local government councils assess growing tensions from the public, Whittlesea council has moved to hire a security guard to ensure safety at council meetings.
Security at council meetings has become a hot topic after a crowd of almost 200 people attended Monash council’s public meeting on April 26 in protest against a planned drag story time event at Oakleigh Library. Hostile protestors were met with police and security as council were forced to temporarily suspend proceedings.
A statement from Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) president David Clark said the unique dynamic of public council meetings is leaving councils vulnerable to the rising threat of public disorder.
Cr Clark said the MAV was in support of any council taking measures to ensure the safety of their community, employees, and councillors is their number one priority.
The Yarra Ranges council recently closed their public gallery for council meetings in the interest of safety, opting to allow public attendance via live stream only.
Cr Clark said because most council meetings provide a live-stream, closing council galleries from the public will not infringe on the opportunity for the public to submit questions.
“… That’s why even while taking these safety precautions, councils are fully committed to ensuring there are still options available for legitimate community questioning,” Cr Clark said.
“They are committed to respectful engagement on genuine community concerns and will utilise online tools to do so if need be.
“We expect any council in the situation of having to close their public gallery will regularly review this and seek to return to in person galleries at council meetings as soon as it is safe to do so.”
Whittlesea council chief executive Craig Lloyd said that to date, council meetings have continued to run in-person without major disruption, but council will still be closely monitoring the situation.
“Since the start of the year, the City of Whittlesea has seen an influx of people attending council meetings and asking public questions about topics including 5G and 20-minute neighbourhoods,” he said.
“Council is taking advice from Victoria Police and has employed security at its recent meetings to ensure those attending the meeting and our staff and administrators can feel safe.”
Council did not offer a response in regard to how much security will be costing council.
