By Laura Michell
Former Whittlesea mayor Aidan McLindon will seek a Supreme Court review of the decision to suspend him from council for six months.
As reported by Star Weekly, Local Government Minister Nick Staikos suspended Mr McLindon from his role as a councillor on April 16 for a period of six months amid allegations of poor conduct and intimidating behaviour.
In a statement on Thursday, June 5, Mr McLindon announced that he has sought legal advice from a number of senior lawyers following his suspension.
“That advice is that the Minister for Consumer Affairs and Minister for Local Government, Nick Staikos, acted unlawfully in taking the action which led to my suspension from my position as the elected mayor of the City of Whittlesea,“ he said.
“As a result of that advice, I will be applying to the Supreme Court to judicially review the actions of the minister.“
A state government spokesperson said Mr McLindon was suspended following the receipt of a report by the municipal monitors appointed to Whittlesea council and other information provided, under section 229A (1) of the Local Government Act 2020.
“As the matter is expected to be subject to litigation, it would be inappropriate to comment any further,” the spokesperson said.
Mr Staikos’ decision to suspended Mr McLindon followed a decision by Whittlesea council chief executive Craig Llyod to bar Mr McLindon from the council chambers and place restrictions on his interactions with councillors and council staff to response to alleged “intimidating” and “aggressive“ behaviour.
That led to Mr McLindon gathering his supporters outside the council chamber during the March council meeting and calling for Mr Lloyd and the municipal monitors to resign.
In February, Mr McLindon faced a vote of no confidence and calls for him to resign from the office of mayor from the municipality’s other councillors.
The councillors also referred Mr McLindon to an internal arbitration process over alleged breaches of the Model Councillor Code of Conduct in response to his action during his January campaign for a by-election in the state seat of Werribee.
Mr Staikos has also launched a Commission of Inquiry into Whittlesea council to address potentially serious and systemic governance issues within the council and identify necessary improvements to ensure it can function effectively.
The inquiry, which was launched on May 19, is being led by experience public sector leaders Prue Digby and Jim Gifford
The council will continue to operate during the inquiry, with findings to be handed down in September.
