Media response - Council meeting criticism

Published on 19 January 2023

Response to The Advertiser.

• We are getting rumblings that these protests will soon be held across a number of councils. I was hoping to get a comment from the council regarding the opinion that the council 'breached the proper process' and that the reaction from the public was justified? Does the council believe they did everything in their power correctly on Tuesday night? Is there anything they could have done differently?

Comments attributed to Mayor Moira Were

The behaviour of the group was entirely unjustifiable. We always welcome public participation in council meetings, but we cannot and will not tolerate abuse, aggression and a lack of respect for the process.

On Tuesday night we had families present, who attended in good faith to participate in local government. The behaviour of the group prevented that, and created an unsafe environment for them, our staff and elected members.

Our elected members and staff followed all necessary processes and procedures relating to the delivery of the meeting. We did attempt to resolve the technical issues and we also worked with some of the community members to find a solution to continue the meeting, but these offers were rejected. At that point we were left with no alternative but to adjourn the meeting to ensure everyone’s safety.

We thank SA Police for their assistance on site on Tuesday evening, and Premier Malinauskas for his comments in the media yesterday reminding everyone that democracy depends on a calm and considered exchange of viewpoints, no matter how different they may be.

Both the CEO and Mayor/Deputy Mayor from the City of Salisbury have reached out to the City of Onkaparinga and have expressed their support.

ENDS