Editorial: Denied entry to Council meeting

AT 1pm yesterday, as my car went up onto the hoist at TyrePower in Hornsby, I sent a text message to Council Director Mathew Pringle that I may need to Zoom into last night’s Council meeting.

It was definitely unforeseen circumstances and I’d ensured Council had received written notification of my request, with plenty of time. The mechanics at TyrePower were brilliant and prioritised sorting my car, but given the time, I didn’t want to be on the side of the road trying to Zoom in with unstable internet. Instead I arranged for my children to be taken back home  to Scone while I stayed in Sydney to ensure I had secure internet connection for the meeting.

However, the link I was assured I’d receive, was never received.

Under the Council’s meeting Code of Practice (section 5.23) I was supposed to be included in the meeting to decide if I would be given access and another requirement is the Council has to vote on the issue. But Mayor Collison didn’t let those codes get in the way of him denying me entry to the meeting.

The general manager, Greg McDonald, claimed he had not received any written request for Zoom attendance. Director Mathew Pringle, confirmed Council had received the written request, but Mayor Collison didn’t let that stop him from denying me entry either.

Mayor Collison effectively ruled, authoritarian leader style, that I was not allowed into the meeting. And if you can follow the logic, because I can’t, he denied my request, because the request had not been received. Ergo, in denying my request, the request was formally acknowledged.

I’ve previously published my opinion that the parameters for Zoom attendance are designed by the Upper Hunter Shire Council to prevent some Councillors from fulfilling their elected duties and denying them entry to meetings. Last night was a perfect case in point.

But thankfully we don’t live in an authoritarian nation, and you can’t lock the doors to Parliament House to prevent Members of Parliament from attending, nor can you do the same virtually. I was ready to enter the meeting and was effectively blocked from entering and fulfilling my duties by Councillor Collison.

But the clanger is, denying entry to the meeting must be “reasonable” and I think Mayor Collison may have a tough time explaining how his unilateral decision was “reasonable”. I’ve informed the Office of Local Government and will now pursue the process of holding Council to account on the matter.

Moreover, it has called into question if last night’s meeting was “properly held”. Which means if people are blocked from attending and the meeting is deemed to be not properly held, well then it was never actually held and any decisions made therein are null and void.

I, like most ratepayers, would really prefer Council focus on fixing the Merriwa Willow Tree Road, the runway at the airport, stop the sale yards from haemorrhaging money or the long list of issues we see. But these are the childish games it seems some would prefer to play.

Kind Regards,

Cr Elizabeth Flaherty

All of the above are my perspectives, opinions and beliefs as a Councillor on the Upper Hunter Shire Council, are my own, which may not (in fact probably don’t) reflect Council’s position, but which as an elected representative I am supported in law to freely express.