No-confidence motion against Randwick mayor Philipa Veitch fails

A vote of no confidence against Philipa Veitch failed tonight despite calls from local Jewish residents for the Mayor to stand down after she last month accused Israel of ‘brutally’ murdering babies in a university speech.

Randwick’s mayor has survived a no-confidence vote held by the local council after backlash from residents after she made remarks criticising Israel during a university speech last month.

The motion of no confidence held at an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday night failed, with instead an amendment to denounce anti-Semitism and Islamophobia passing through.

The vote was 9-5 with all Labor and Greens voting against the original motion and all four Liberals and one independent voting in support of it.

The vote for the amendment that passed was 9-5 again, with Labor and Greens voting in support of it and Liberals and independent voting against the amendment.

It comes after Councillor Daniel Rosenfeld, who is a member of the Jewish community, requested the meeting in response to Ms Veitch’s “very inflammatory, inappropriate comments at the rally at UNSW”.

Randwick Mayor Philipa Veitch. Photo: Mark Bond

The comments were part of a speech the mayor made, where she accused Israel of “murdering babies” and that Israel had “completely destroyed every single” university in Gaza.

On Ms Veitch’s posts in support of the rally, she states in a disclaimer that “this is a personal view and does not represent the views of Randwick Council”.

As a result of the mayor’s speech at the rally, there was increased security at the council meeting last month.

Members of the Jewish community attended extraordinary council meeting on Tuesday night with one speaker Ben Kleid telling Ms Veitch that she “has lost the confidence of the Randwick community”.

“You should hang your head in shame,” Mr Klein told her.

In his speech, Mr Rosenfeld told Ms Veitch that it was “time for a change”.

“I’ve received many complaints (from the community),” he said.

“These actions have brought the council into disrepute and I call for the mayor to stand down.”

Ms Veitch at a Students for Palestine rally at the University of New South Wales on Wednesday July 17 2024. Picture: Facebook

Labor Councillor Dylan Parker was against the initial motion despite having “significant concerns on the way the mayor has conducted herself”.

“As a former mayor, it is not a way I would conduct myself,” Mr Parker said.

“I really do not think it (the motion) is appropriate … a motion like this does not go towards bringing our community together.”

Ms Veitch called the meeting “a dangerous and political stunt” and said that “none of this is okay”.

“This was nothing more than a cynical and divisive attempt to impact local government elections next month, and to distract people from the real issues at hand,” she said.

“It’s incredibly disappointing to see this sort of political game playing, that is so commonly used against women who dare to take leadership positions in politics.

“I think the wonderful community living in Randwick City Council will see through the grubby tactics on full display at the Extraordinary Council meeting last night.”

Ms Veitch has also vowed to “never stop working tirelessly for this community that I love dearly”.

Mr Rosenfeld said ahead of the meeting that the no-confidence motion he put forth was due to “inappropriate comments from the mayor.”

“I’ve had a lot of complaints from members of the community, especially the Jewish community,” Mr Rosenfeld said.

“We’ve got a large Jewish community in the LGA, and it was widely reported in the media and it brought the council into disrepute. So due to that, I’m calling for a vote of no confidence in the mayor.

“It’s really important the mayor focuses on local issues that are covered under local government. The mayor is the official spokesman for the council and people expect the mayor to be the spokesman for local government issues in the Randwick LGA.”

Liberal Councillor Daniel Rosenfeld. Picture: Supplied

Liberal Councillor Christie Hamilton said Ms Veitch needed to “ separate political views when you step into that most senior position”.

“The residents are not happy. They’ve told us they’re very unhappy … we’ve received emails saying that the mayor should stand down,” she said.

“All of us have received emails from residents saying Philipa Veitch should be sacked, should stand down because they keep pushing a pro-Palestine agenda, and that’s just not inclusive.

“That’s not fair to all the residents to continue to push one single political agenda.”

Ahead of the meeting, Ms Veitch said it was “disappointing to see this political game that is so commonly used against women who dare to take leadership positions in politics”.

“I’m out every week speaking to hundreds of members of our community and I fully intend to keep representing the community I live in and doing this important work,” she said.

“This is a political stunt. I think the community will see this baseless attack so close to an election for the grubby politics it is. Not to mention the waste of thousands of ratepayers dollars to call a full council meeting for the sake of a stunt that will change nothing.”

Originally published as No-confidence motion against Randwick mayor Philipa Veitch fails