Salisbury Council calls extraordinary meeting for vote to ‘strongly denounce’ Severina Burner

An Adelaide council has called an extraordinary meeting over a motion to “strongly denounce” one of its own elected members.

An elected official promoting Nazi slogans online has triggered a special meeting of a northern suburbs council.

A Salisbury council meeting was held On Wednesday evening to condemn Councillor Severina Burner, who posted an image containing a Nazi swastika to her Facebook page on Sunday.

When contacted by the Advertiser about the post, she responded, “get f***ed”.

Screenshots taken from the Facebook post on the "Cr Severina Burner" Facebook page from three days ago captioned "We are not alone. Personal views". Picture: Facebook

An agenda shows that, at the meeting, councillors were asked to pass a motion that “strongly denounces” the post’s “disturbing ostensible associations to the Nazi regime, fascism and white supremacy”.

The motion also asked that council “expresses its dismay” and acknowledges the potential affect of such online publications on the many Salisbury Council families and communities directly or indirectly affected by the Nazi persecution during the Second World War.

Council leaders confirmed that the motion passed, with all councillors who attended the meeting voting in favour. Cr Burner and Councillor Grace Bawden were not present for the vote.

Salisbury Councillor Severina Burner. Picture: Supplied

“We are united in not tolerating this behaviour,” Mayor Gillian Aldridge said.

Deputy Mayor Chad Buchanan said: “As a council we have a responsibility to call this out. The standard you walk by is the standard you accept.”

In January, residents called for the resignation of Cr Burner, who compared Smart City CCTV technology to concentration camps, and called the “storming” of a council meeting “justified”.

A January 31 motion noted that the council “does not condone and, in fact, condemns these views and terminology”.

It also condemned the views and terminology of Cr Bawden, who used terms such as “Useless Eaters” and “Life Unworthy of Life” as purported “facts” on social media.

Adelaide Holocaust Museum chair Greg Adams said: “We must hold our elected officials to the highest standards...”