Sacked, gagged and powerless

BY CHARLOTTE GRIEVE

Last week, rumours circulated about a proposed gag order on former Councillors joining representative committees under the new Inner West Council.

A gag order, also known as a media ban, refers to the criminal offence enforceable by way of speaking to the press about restricted matters.

“It would be unprecedented. It must be mistaken language as they can’t really want to start censoring councillors”, Darcy Byrne told media.

It seems Mr Byrne was right. During the Local Representation Advisory Committee meeting held on June 15, the Inner West council Administrator, Richard Pearson, accepted an amendment on the item to the effect that former Councillors are only prohibited from speaking on behalf of the Council.

“It’s unfortunate that the administrator included wording that didn’t reflect the intention of his orders” said Frank Breen, the former Councillor for Balmain.

“The only person who has ever been able to speak on behalf of the Council is the Mayor. Someone just wanted to write a scandalous press release,” said Michele McKenzie, former Councillor for Rozelle-Lilyfield.

However, the gag order debacle has brought into the spotlight the difficulties former Councillors are facing in the decision-making process within the newly amalgamated Inner West Council.

“It was up to us to pick up the administrator on the question of gagging. What other comparable decisions will be made that we will be excluded from participating in?” said Mr Breen.

Former Councillors feel disempowered by the lack of control and input they have over council matters.

“The relationship is entirely different. We’re not the decision makers at all any more. It’s like you get asked what you think, locked out of the room and the decision is made. This is a huge change,” said Mr Breen.

While the contention surrounding the gag order was quickly resolved, other pertinent issues such as WestConnex remain at the forefront of political tension.

“This is an absolutely undemocratic and shameful process where the Mike Baird dictatorship is helping out his developer buddies”, said Daniel Kogoy, former Councillor for Annandale-Leichardt.