Adelaide City Council wants to ‘gag’ councillors speaking to media

Adelaide City Councillors could be banned from talking to the media — and therefore the wider public who elected them — about their ideas and plans under tough new rules proposed as part of a review of its standing orders.

Adelaide City Councillors: Front, Simon Hou, Mary Couros, Alex Hyde, Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor, Anne Moran, Helen Donovan. Back, Arman Abrahimzadeh, Housman Abiad, Robert Simms, Franz Knoll, Jessy Khera. Far back, Phillip Martin. Picture: AAP / Russell Millard

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Adelaide City councillors could be gagged from speaking to the media under proposed new rules.

The move would bar elected members from speaking to the media about motions they intend to put before council, until they are published in an agenda.

Council discussed the issue at a committee meeting last night, with some elected members calling the proposal “censorship”, “unlawful” and impinging on their “freedom of speech”.

Others thought it was just “common sense” to add to its list of Standing Orders, which are currently under review.

Cr Phil Martin said at the meeting he would ignore the ban and let the Code of Conduct complaints rack up for breaking the rules.

“I know what a gag order looks like — and this is a gag,” Cr Martin said.

“If it turns out it is lawful …I am buying a gag and sitting out the front of this chamber, with that gag on my mouth, with a placard for as long as it is necessary for this council to overturn that.”

Crs have until the Wednesday before a meeting to lodge a motion on notice and, if accepted by Adelaide City Council chief executive Mark Goldstone, they are published on Friday in an agenda with administration comment.

The council has meetings every second week.

Cr Anne Moran, who is against the move, requested the council seek legal advice on the order, as well as feedback from The Press Council and other stakeholders to ensure it was lawful.

Interior of Adelaide City Council chambers, at Town Hall.

“This is a shocking change to council, a gag motion and one I will ignore — line those code of conducts up,” Cr Moran said.

“It’s non confidential information that affects our ratepayers.”

The review of the Standing Orders comes following a week of controversy surrounding the council about infighting where Cr Moran had a Code of Conduct complaint lodged against her.

Cr Alex Hyde said allowing councillors to talk to the media before publication of the agenda was “megaphone diplomacy”.

“(We) are arming a mob of citizens with torches and pitchforks (to) march down to Town Hall … before having expert advice,” Cr Hyde said.

Mr Goldstone would seek legal advice about the order before the council votes on Tuesday.

Law Society of South Australia president Amy Nikolovski said she supported freedom of speech for elected members and any restrictions should not be “exercised unreasonably”.

“Any limitations on free speech should be exercised sparingly and only where speech could have a significant adverse impact on the council and its constituents,” Ms Nikolovski said.

“The most common reason why speech by council members would be restricted would be in matters relating to commercial confidentiality.

“While it depends on the specific details of the policy, there would likely be legal options available to challenge policies that impose excessive restrictions on elected members’ speech.”

Dean and head of the University of South Australia’s law school Rick Sarre, a media law specialist, said the move was akin to a “gag order”, but did not consider it unlawful.

He said it could be a way to get the council back into order.

“We are all watching and our eyes are rolling at Adelaide City breaking out in warfare,” Prof Sarre said

“I would much rather have an Adelaide City Council not in disrepute, even at the expense of the short-term gag order.”

Adelaide City Council Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor disagreed that the move was “gag order”.

“When the agenda comes out, all the elected members get it at the same time, the media gets it at the same time, the public gets it at the same time and the administration has had the ability to comment,” Ms Verschoor said.

“So we actually get some understanding of what policy and what previous decisions have sat behind the motion in question.”

The Press Council was contacted for comment.