Tamworth Regional Council takes disciplinary action against Councillor Mark Rodda for violating its code of conduct on Facebook. Video supplied from Tamworth Regional Council on YouTube
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00:00Councillors, can we pick an open?
00:02I'll call on the General Manager to report
00:04on items in closed Council.
00:06Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
00:07Councillors, this is the report from the closed session
00:09of the Ordinary Council meeting
00:11held on the 11th of March, 2025.
00:14Tonight in closed Council,
00:15you considered five items of business.
00:18For the first four items of business,
00:20you adopted the recommendations as per the business paper.
00:23In relation to item 12.5, you resolved the following.
00:28Then in relation to the report, Code of Conduct matter,
00:30Council not adopt the investigative recommendation
00:33to formally censure Councillor Rotter
00:35for the breach under section 440G of the Act
00:38due to the seriousness of the breach
00:40that warrants further penalties to be considered
00:42by the Office of Local Government.
00:44Two, under section 7.58 of the procedures
00:46for the administration of the Code of Conduct,
00:49Council formally censure Councillor Rotter
00:51for the breach under section 440G of the Local Government Act
00:55and the matter be referred to the Office of Local Government
00:57for further action under the misconduct provisions
01:00of the Local Government Act.
01:02Under section 6.3, under section 7.59 of the procedures
01:07of the administration of the Code of Conduct,
01:09the grounds on which Council is satisfied
01:11that the Councillor should be censured are as follows.
01:14Allegation one, on or about the 1st of August, 2024,
01:19Councillor Rotter placed a post on his Facebook page
01:22that contained comments which could be seen
01:23as a personal attack on Council staff
01:26and offensive and humiliating to them.
01:29They are included in particulars A and B.
01:32Additionally, the comments had the potential
01:34to bring disrepute to Council staff
01:36and the Council as a whole.
01:39The comments from the Facebook post
01:40comprising the particulars of this allegation
01:42are as follows.
01:43A, the size of Council's comms team,
01:47aka the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda,
01:51and B, out-of-touch elected Councillors
01:54and senior Council staff.
01:56The finding of allegation one is found to be substantiated
01:59in relation to the particulars containing A and B.
02:02The substantiated allegations constitute
02:04a breach of the Code of Conduct
02:05pursuant to the following clauses.
02:08Clause 3.1, you must not conduct yourself
02:10in a manner that A, is likely to bring the Council
02:14or other Council officials into disrepute.
02:17Clause 3.6, you must not harass
02:20or unlawfully discriminate against others.
02:233.7, for the purposes of this Code,
02:26harassment is any form of behaviour towards a person
02:29that A, is not wanted by the person,
02:32B, offends, humiliates or intimidates the person,
02:35and C, creates a hostile environment.
02:387.6, you must not engage in any of the following
02:42inappropriate interaction.
02:44And at point H, Councillors and administrators
02:47are making personal attacks on Council staff
02:49or engaging in contact towards staff
02:51that would be contrary to the general contact provisions
02:54in part three of this Code,
02:55in public forums, including social media.
02:59And 8.28, you must not use social media
03:02to post or share comments, photos, videos,
03:05electronic recordings or other information
03:07that is offensive, humiliating, threatening or intimidating
03:12to other Council officials or those that deal with Council.
03:17That's it, I have a motion to accept.
03:21Council abides, seconded by Council, no.