Adelaide city councillors would be booted from meetings by the Lord Mayor under new rules that also ban phones

Disruptive, distracted Adelaide city councillors would be booted from meetings under new rules that essentially treat them like high school students. See the proposed rules here.

Disruptive councillors would be banished from Adelaide City Council meetings by the Lord Mayor for the first time, in another move to sever the new administration from the warring councils of the past.

And like the state government ban on mobile phones in schools to come into effect this year, councillors would also no longer be allowed to use them during meetings.

The ‘code of practice’ changes will be considered at a meeting on Tuesday night, with the main change being the power of meeting chairs to ban disruptive councillors if they first reject the councillor’s excuse: “Updated to reflect the changes to the Local Government Act 1999 (SA) (the) presiding Member has the authority to expel members from the meeting for a period of time”.

Adelaide Lord Mayor Dr Jane Lomax-Smith. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Emma Brasier

A previous system was not used, because it needed a motion moved and seconded, then spoken to by those for and against. The banned councillors were also allowed to come back to vote.

The code has been planned since the current council was voted in last year and began to distance itself from the intense personal hostility between two factions of the previous council, Team Adelaide and the Independents.

It is not related to a recent “f**k off Mary” sledge by Councillor Carmel Noon towards Councillor Mary Couros, who Cr Noon complained had falsely accused her of politicking while speaking at the same meeting.

Cr Noon said she believed that if Cr Couros had been censured for her comment the dispute would not have escalated.

“I was trying to put up an amendment to the budget motion and to stop carparking fees increasing and the reinstatement of outdoor dining fees,’’ she said.

“I also have an issue with adding seven more carparking inspectors to the already 24 unless they focus on people parking in permit carparks.”

But Cr Couros said she hadn’t been derogatory and did not swear as Cr Noon had.

“Time will tell whether the extra code makes a difference or not,” she said.

“It is up to each member to be respectful.”

Cr Couros said the changes shouldn’t be necessary.

“The council already has a Code of Conduct, as you would expect it is up to individual members to choose whether they follow it,’’ she said.

“It is unfortunate that the Lord Mayor feels she needs further rules to regulate the juvenile behaviour of some councillors.”

Adelaide city councillors Carmel Noon and Mary Couros.

Council CEO Clare Mockler said the bans for disruptive councillors was entirely as a result of changes to the Local Government Act which came into effect in November last year.

“Council is required to review its meeting procedures every financial year and, as a result of the recent local government reforms, there are a number of new provisions that now need to be included,’’ she said.

“The workshop is just another step in that process, with a raft of proposed changes being discussed.

“Administration being contacted before the submission of a Motion on Notice is an optional proposal for Councillors that’s intended to help provide them with additional background and to streamline the overall process.”

The code of practice will be put to ratepayers and other members of the public for feedback in July.

The code also limits meetings times to 8.30pm.

Councillors will now have to declare conflicts of interest in writing before meetings, and be advised by council if they can speak and vote.

The code is also designed to force councillors to consider the cost to ratepayers when they come up with ideas.