Serial pest racks up 19 complaints but says he’s ‘smashing’ his job

A local councillor’s behaviour towards colleagues has become so bad the state government has formally intervened, concerned his harassment and intimidation has left staff feeling unsafe, anxious and, in one case, physically sick.

Andrew Thaler was elected to Snowy Monaro Regional Council in September with just 500 first-preference votes. In October and November, Thaler was the subject of 19 misconduct complaints from councillors, council staff and the community.

Andrew Thaler has been subject to 19 complaints since he became a councillor in September.Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald

They include allegations he threatened to fire or sue staff, he was offensive (he allegedly described the mayor as a “dog arse c--t”) – and he sent emails to staff and councillors that were overbearing, threatening and abused his power.

Thaler has a long history of insulting and harassing prominent local women via social media, which included telling them to “suck a dick”, describing them as dumb, venal, a “piece of shit”, and branding them narcissistic, manipulative liars.

Before Thaler was elected, he had been banned from council meetings due to his harassment of staff, which included describing female workers as fat and dumb. He told a librarian she was a “useless cow of a thing” as he warned he was coming for her job.

However, his election overturned the ban, and he was allowed to attend meetings.

NSW Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig wrote to the Snowy Monaro Regional Council on December 16, saying he intended to issue a Performance Improvement Order to curtail the behaviour of Thaler and other councillors amid workplace safety concerns.

The order would require councillors to agree to stop harassing, intimidating, threatening or making allegations of corruption against council officials. The Office of Local Government (OLG) issues orders when councils can’t fix problems themselves.

The actions of some councillors, including Thaler, caused staff to feel anxious, intimidated and concerned for their safety. “I am informed that one staff member has been physically ill on two occasions as a direct result of an interaction with Cr Thaler,” Hoenig’s letter said.

Nimmitabel’s Andrew Thaler and some of the women who have spoken out against him.Credit: Fairfax Media

Hoenig was also concerned that the material posted by Thaler on social media – including offensive language and allegations of harassment and corruption against councillors and staff – was posing a reputation risk to the council.

His letter refers to a Facebook post, in which Thaler appears to brag about complaints by saying he was “totally smashing this councillor thing … baby I was born for it. I’ve already got nine code of conduct complaints in what, five weeks”.

The council, already facing financial challenges, was devoting significant resources to dealing with Thaler, which put its other operations at risk, the letter said. Council meetings were being delayed by “repeated baseless points of order” and “baseless allegations of council misconduct” by certain councillors, it went on.

The council had begun automatically intercepting emails sent from Thaler to staff but could not do much more to protect workers, said Hoenig’s letter, which also accused Thaler of disclosing confidential council information.

The council will discuss its response at a meeting next Monday, but acting chief executive Stephen Dunshea has recommended it refrain from making a submission to the minister and allow him to make a decision.

“I would welcome receiving a very clear direction from the minister regarding the expected standards of behaviour and performance that would see a much-improved level of community trust and confidence,” he said.

In a press statement, Thaler said the allegations were hearsay and accused the minister of showing contempt for democracy.

“The minister … must respect the fact that some people vote for candidates that others have contempt and disdain for.”

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