Andrew Wilkie: A statement on Glenorchy City Council’s troubles

The finding by the Director of Local Government that Glenorchy Mayor Kristie Johnston acted entirely correctly over the Council’s restructuring is welcome and warranted.

There can be no doubt now that the decision by Aldermen and Council staff to ignore the Mayor’s adjournment instructions at the 5 February Council meeting was wrong, and that any decisions made in the subsequently improperly convened Council meeting were always invalid and should be overturned.

This whole sorry saga should be a wake-up call to the troublesome Aldermen on the Glenorchy City Council that they must stop their mischief, respect the community’s wishes and fall into line behind the popular Mayor.

An unfortunate dimension of this is that the well-intentioned Aldermen on the Council were given bad procedural and legal advice by Council staff which compelled them to be part of the matters before the Director of Local Government.

Another troubling dimension of this is that some Council staff have been sacked on the basis of the improper Council meeting and could be well within their rights to now take legal action against the people who got this so terribly wrong.

I applaud Mayor Johnston for staying true to her election promise to clean up the Council and for her steadfastness during this difficult episode. It was ludicrous to think that Aldermen could sign off on deep Council restructuring without seeing the underlying consultant’s report.
Andrew Wilkie, Independent Member for Denison