Serial pest’s offensive rampage hasn’t stopped, even after 19 complaints

A Snowy region MP has implored the state government to take action against a serial pest councillor who racked up 19 misconduct complaints in two months and is now violating an official order to stop threatening and offending colleagues.

Andrew Thaler was elected to Snowy Monaro Regional Council in September with 111 first-preference votes, despite a history of harassing members of the community, particularly women, on his social media accounts.

Andrew Thaler speaks to the media on his arrival for a Snowy Monaro Regional Council meeting in 2024 in Cooma.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

In parliament on Tuesday night, Snowy-based National Party upper house MP, Nichole Overall – who has been described as a “gross, wallowing in the trough, pig” by Thaler – said his behaviour was an attack on the integrity of local government.

“This is deliberate, calculated chaos,” she said. “The councillor is flagrantly violating the minister’s [performance] order and the situation is untenable.”

The Office of Local Government demanded Thaler and the other Snowy Monaro councillors sign a performance improvement order, agreeing not to harass, threaten, offend or disrespect their colleagues and council staff.

It came after Thaler racked up 19 misconduct complaints in two months late last year – including calling the mayor a “dog arse c---. The OLG said his performance was causing serious workplace health and safety issues, and made one staffer physically sick.

National Party upper house MP, Nichole Overall says, “It’s harmful, destructive and dangerous behaviour that is hurting this community”.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Thaler signed it, but is still offending and harassing people on his social media site.

On Friday, Thaler posted Overall’s speech to his social media and wrote: “No convictions B----“, as well as a series of other disparaging remarks about the MP.

In a separate statement to the Herald he said: “Nichole clearly misled and lied to the parliament on Tuesday night, across multiple instances.”

“I think Nichole has a secret crush on me, and its starting to get a little bit creepy.”

Thaler recently described a female fellow councillor as “a despicable creature, one of the worst creatures you could ever … unfortunately meet,” and said another woman was a diversity hire who “doesn’t know how to tell the truth”.

Under a story about former broadcaster Ray Hadley’s granddaughter’s cancer battle, he wrote, “if you do bad things to people … bad things happen to you”.

As Thaler continues to flout the performance improvement order, the Minister for Local Government Ron Hoenig has been urged to act. Hoenig said he and the OLG would “utilise our respective powers available under the Act with full force”.

But, he said, there were “processes under the Act that need to be followed” when considering taking action against a councillor.

The OLG is currently investigating the council’s adherence to the performance improvement order, and Hoenig has requested a report from his department to determine whether Thaler has failed to follow the instruction.

Its potential responses include issuing a compliance order to particular councillors, appointing a temporary adviser to council, or suspending council entirely.

Thaler, left, at a Snowy Monaro Regional Council meeting, in Cooma in 2024.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

But Overall said these processes were ineffective and urged Hoenig to step in, arguing Thaler’s continuing poor behaviour undermined the Snowy region and the integrity of local government.

“It’s harmful, destructive and dangerous behaviour that is hurting this community,” she said. The Broderick report cracked down on sexist behaviour in state parliament, and “neither should it be excused or trivialised at the local level,” she said.

Overall said there were alternatives to the performance order process, such as a Civil and Administrative Tribunal power to disqualify a councillor from holding civic office for five years.

“Minister, on behalf of the Snowy Monaro community, I implore you and the Labor government to step up and deliver on your commitment to ensure respectful, constructive – and safe – governance,” she said.

Thaler is now intending to run for federal government.

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