Kingborough councillor David Grace hits back at sexism accusations

A Kingborough City councillor insists he’s not a sexist, but claims he’s been smeared and painted as such by some of his colleagues in the chamber.

A Kingborough councillor insists he’s not sexist, but claims he’s been smeared and painted as such by some of his colleagues in the chamber.

David Grace is attempting to fight a code of conduct complaint made against him by his fellow councillors, who say he used offensive and threatening language during a workshop.

The code of conduct was upheld and Cr Grace was obliged to make a formal apology and seek anger management training, but says his colleagues continue to “besmirch” his character in public and on social media.

Cr Grace filed a complaint to the Local Government director in an attempt to extract an apology from seven councillors as well as the former mayor Dean Winter.

The director dismissed the complaint, and general manager Gary Arnold has told Cr Grace that he should contact each of the councillors himself if he wants an apology.

WAR OF WORDS: Kingborough councillor David Grace says he's been unfairly tarred and painted as sexist by his fellow councillors. Picture: Kenji Sato

However, Cr Grace maintains he wants a formal, public apology and has lodged another complaint to the local government minister, director, and state premier.

In particular, Cr Grace said he wants an apology from mayor Paula Wriedt, who he claims has continued to publicly criticise him to win “sympathy support” from the public.

“This continual besmirching of my character is upsetting and unfair,” Cr Grace said.

“I have done the crime and paid the price and surely I should now be eligible to continue with my work.”

Cr Paula Wriedt said she couldn’t believe she was being victim-shamed by the man who had verbally threatened her with violence.

Cr Grace said he “honestly can’t remember” having done so, however other councillors allege he said “I’ll put you on your tail” after she criticised him for perceived sexist remarks.

“It’s concerning to me, as the victim in this, that all of a sudden that he’s pointing to me as the one at fault,” Cr Wriedt said.

Paula Wriedt Kingborough Council Mayor with the new fogo bins to be rolled out in Kingborough. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“No amount of him saying he’s being vilified for being sexist can take away from the fact that he [verbally] threatened me.”

Cr Wriedt said she and other councillors had tried to put the unpleasantness behind them and mend the relationship, but claimed Cr Grace continued to ignore their overtures.

“I’m trying to make amends to Cr Grace. We say hello to him when we see him in the chamber, but he doesn’t respond to us,” Cr Wriedt said.

“It happened, he got a penalty, and he needs to move on. When a child does something wrong they get a reprimand, they learn from it, and they move on.”

However Marjon Kolabinski, who is Cr Grace’s legal advocate, said they will continue to fight the case until Cr Grace gets an apology and his reputation was restored.

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Originally published as Kingborough councillor David Grace hits back at sexism accusations