Phillip Martin elected Deputy Lord Mayor of Adelaide City Council

Controversial Adelaide councillor Phillip Martin has been elected Deputy Lord Mayor at the first meeting of the newly formed council.

Phillip Martin has been unanimously elected as Deputy Lord Mayor for Adelaide City Council, with talks already continuing to address reform within the chamber.

Mr Martin was voted in on Tuesday night at the first meeting for the newly-elected council.

Lord Mayor Dr Jane Lomax-Smith told the meeting she “would really prefer” an existing rather than a newly elected councillor for the role.

Councillor Henry Lloyd Davis nominated Mr Martin for the role of deputy Lord Mayor, which Mr Martin was prepared to accept.

Mr Davis then requested to move a motion that Mr Martin be appointed as deputy Lord Mayor.

Phillip Martin, the new Deputy Lord Mayor for Adelaide City Council. Picture: Morgan Sette

The motion was seconded by councillor Keiran Snape and, as there was a remuneration involved, Mr Martin left the room.

“I think that the position of a deputy Lord Mayor, to act as your deputy, is an important one and I think Councillor Martin would make an excellent, I’ve gotten to know him over the past week or so and I think he’ll make an excellent representative for the City of Adelaide,” Mr Davis said.

When Mr Martin walked back in the room he was met with applause and a “congratulations” from the Lord Mayor.

“Thank you Lord Mayor, and may I also thank my colleagues for their vote of trust and for electing me to this position,” Mr Martin said.

Mr Martin is the council’s representative for North Adelaide and in August was named as one of the main individuals allegedly responsible for a toxic work culture at the council.

Staff told an investigator they felt they had been bullied, harassed and harangued during questioning at meetings and email exchanges with some councillors, particularly Mr Martin.

Talking with ABC Radio on Wednesday, Mr Martin said some changes to operations had already been discussed.

“One of the first things that we did last night was give voice to the Lord Mayor’s promise to restore council meetings, from one to two,” he said.

“We are going to discuss it again next week, plus also reform, if it is possible, at least discuss it anyway the current committee system.

“I can say with confidence that the city can be quite pleased that they have in place a new council that will get the job and there are so many people with so many diverse interests on this council that we have the skill set unique.”

Phillip Martin during Adelaide City Council meeting at Adelaide Town Hall last year. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Earlier this year, Mr Martin was found to have breached the Local Government Act three times in a two-page election flyer.

The Electoral Commissioner found Mr Martin made misleading and inaccurate statements when commenting on the Adelaide City Council’s finances in the July flyer.

In a forced retraction on his Facebook page in October, Mr Martin posted a lengthy 2700-word explanation of his statements and the commissioner’s findings.

Mr Martin retracted his statements in their “entirety” and published a statement provided by the commissioner to avoid a penalty of up to $5000.

It wasn’t the first of his misconduct.

In 2021, an inquiry found Mr Martin “disrespected” then-Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor and senior management during meetings.

The investigation by law firm Kelledy Jones determined Mr Martin twice breached the council’s code of conduct by describing Ms Verschoor as “impotent” and accusing council administration of financial “mismanagement”.