Zoe Moffatt
Hume mayor Joseph Haweil has called out and voted to end the council’s Local Government Professionals Inc (LGPro) membership, following its proposed legislation calling for tougher penalties on councillors.
On August 28, councillor Trevor Dance moved a notice of motion to cease council’s LGPro membership, and to detail its expenditure from the 2016 on training through LGPro, including programs and sessions.
Speaking at the meeting, Cr Haweil said his issue is not with the matter of training, but he wants to send a message to LGPro that councillors are not children.
“I was so disturbed five months ago to pick up The Age and to read an article [on] March 1, 2023, under the headline… ‘Councillors behaving badly: Calls for tougher penalties,’” Cr Haweil said.
“Under this arrangement the [chief executive] of LGPro and its board called out ‘appalling behaviour by councillors’.
“It attributed staff turnover and [chief executive] turnover to councillors appalling behaviour… It referred to the need for ‘more sticks to clamp down on misconduct by elected councillors’.
“Having significant media attention attached to something where the language being used… incredibly maternalistic and insulting. For that reason I have been very cranky with LGPro ever since.”
The article addressed LGPro’s letter to Local Government Minister Melissa Horne about addressing the culture and conduct issues in Victoria’s councils.
Under the proposed legislation, arbiters would be able to issue monetary fines and disciplinary panels could suspend councillors for up to three years for bad behaviour.
Cr Haweil said he was ‘disturbed’ by the language used and he thinks LGPro’s job is not to be a political commentator from the side lines.
“I was really disturbed by this type of paternalistic language being used… against people who are in elected positions,” he said.
“I think [the] organisation [stepped] beyond the boundaries to… a place that it really should not have been advocating for. I do want to send a message to LGPro… that councillors are not children.”
An LGPro spokesperson said they have apologised and written to the mayor to clarify LGPro’s position and to offer him the opportunity to discuss the issues and his concerns.
“LGPro understands that negative connotations or tone could be inferred from reading the reportage on its case for reform in isolation and has apologised to the council for any offence caused if that were the case,” they said.
“LGPro believes that some of the commentary was not an accurate representation of the sensible reforms LGPro has been calling for in good faith and has addressed this in correspondence to council.”
