Salisbury councillor Severina Burner called out over Nazi post

An “ignorant” online post by a councillor comparing a common council project to Nazi Germany has sparked calls for her resignation. But she says she was “speaking her own mind”.

Residents have called for the resignation of a Salisbury councillor who compared smart cities to concentration camps and called the “storming” of a council meeting “justified”.

Salisbury resident Sandy Holloway, whose father liberated a concentration camp at the end of World War II, has now called for the councillor, Severina Burner, to “resign immediately”.

“How dare councillor Burner compare ‘smart cities’ to these abhorrent and inhumane death camps,” she said.

“How offensive, ignorant and irresponsible of someone elected to serve the public. I’m appalled.”

Ms Burner shared a post on social media saying smart cities were comparable to “a concentration camp with pretty interactive lights”.

A survivor of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Nazi Germany appears a living skeleton as he delouses his clothes at the camp in April 1945 soon after it was liberated by Allied troops. (AP Photo/Files)

A Facebook interaction between resident Sandy Holloway and councillor Severina Burner. Picture: Facebook

When asked if she stood by the comparison, she did not comment.

In regards to a protest about smart cities, Ms Burner said, “it is my responsibility to liaise with my community and give them a voice”.

On social media, Ms Burner responded to Ms Holloway and said “this isn’t funny”.

“I speak my own mind and my own truth. We are heading in dangerous times with this new technology,” she said.

“The global plan is to censor all of us.”

A smart city is a technologically modern urban area that uses different types of electronic methods and sensors to collect specific data., with some councils around the state considering implementing the technology.

Ms Holloway said her father had seen firsthand the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in northern Germany, the same place Anne Frank died.

It is estimated 120,000 people were held at the camp and 70,000 were killed before it was liberated on April 15, 1945.

Ms Holloway said her father, who served in the British Army during the war, had told her about the horrific conditions at the camp including “unburied bodies, typhus, dysentery and starvation”.

“He described to me the horror, deprivation, sights, smells, disgust and despair of the notorious camp,” she said.

A local government legal expert told The Advertiser Ms Burner’s comments would likely form a breach of the councillor behavioural standards and would be investigated if complaints were made to the council.

The interaction and calls for Ms Burner’s resignation was ignited after it was revealed by The Advertiser her and fellow councillor Grace Bawden had shown online support for the conspiracy theory group “No Smart Cities Action Group (NOSCAG)”.

That group was planning a protest at the Salisbury council chambers that has sparked concern similar scenes to the “storming” of Onkaparinga Council could result.

Salisbury Council mayor Gillian Aldridge on Thursday night said on ABC Radio of the protests, “how scary is that?”

“I’d say they (Ms Burner and Ms Bawden) are … encouraging the protest.

“I’m very aware there may be some problems (at the protest) and I’m going to be prepared for it.”