Residents call police presence too much after they attended a general council meeting

Just a week after ‘dramatic’ scenes shut down a southern council meeting, residents protesting the implementation of ‘Big Brother’ technology were met by police at another local meeting.

Residents from across Adelaide were met by half-a-dozen police officers at the Marion general council meeting on Tuesday night, a week after a neighbouring council meeting was shut down.

The packed gallery was filled with those sceptical of the council adopting a “Smart Cities” approach, despite the issue not even being on the agenda for the evening.

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.

Salisbury resident Roger Chapman made the trip to Marion, saying the adoption of Smart Cities would be detrimental to the Australian way of life.

“Every move will be tracked essentially by Big Brother and that shouldn’t be in our nation,” Mr Chapman said.

“A lot of IT doesn’t have proper scrutiny, once it’s in the airwaves, it’s lost and it’s a breach of privacy.”

Half a dozen police vehicles surrounded the Marion council building on January 25. Picture: Emily Jarvis.

The presence of the police force had a number of members of the gallery taken back, saying it was a slight overkill.

“We don’t want trouble and we don’t want to start it,” Marion resident Linda said.

“I’ve been coming to council meetings for year, it’s my right to know what they are discussing and how it will affect me.

“Look at all the resources police have spent being here when they should be on the streets.”

While most found their seats inside the chamber, many were directed into the foyer, only to find no sound was being relayed outside.

“We couldn’t hear a thing,” Linda said.

The gallery were quiet through the meeting, with only a few scoffing at council debates. Picture: Emily Jarvis.

“The police interfered with us being able to attend this public meeting.”

Despite being met with some hostility from the gallery, Marion Mayor Kris Hanna welcomed residents to always attend council meetings.

“I thanked the members of the public who attended and said the behaviour was exemplary,” Mr Hanna said.

“Marion Council is an open book and everyone is welcomed anytime.”

Just one week prior, the Onkaparinga Council meeting was shut down after just 15 minutes when members of the public protesting Smart Cities technology complained about not being able to hear the audio from outside of the chamber.

Salisbury councillor Severina Burner, who attended that meeting, went as far as comparing the Smart Cities model to concentration camps in an online post.

In 2019, Darwin Council spent $10 million to install hundreds of devices across the centre of the city, becoming one of the first councils in the country to implement Smart Cities technology.

The council said the technology would give it more power to monitor and manage urban places – and the people who occupy them.