Geelong councillor Belinda Moloney gives frosty response to questions about controversial Peter Murrihy motion

Geelong councillor Belinda Moloney was more than a little frosty when asked by one of our journalists about the latest happenings at City Hall.

Peter Murrihy continues to come under fire for a motion he put forward at the most recent Geelong council meeting.

Geelong’s second-longest serving mayor Stephanie Asher has taken aim at her successor over what she says was an “extraordinary motion” that saw Peter Murrihy prioritise funding for a football club he previously coached.

Ms Asher, who resigned from council in July after six years that included three as mayor, also revealed she more than once raised concerns with former City Hall chief executive Martin Cutter over Mr Murrihy’s role as Geelong Racing Club (GRC) president.

The GRC has repeatedly received $16,000 annually in council funding for the Geelong Cup.

Ms Asher, now an employee of mining giant BHP, said she was told it was up to individual councillors to make their own judgement on any potential conflicts.

“A number of councillors raised the issue with me and I had concerns about the lack of declaration of conflict in relation to both funding the GRC and being involved in gambling policy discussions,” she said.

Mr Murrihy again did not reply to a series of questions, while Mr Cutter could not be contacted.

Ms Asher, replaced by Mr Murrihy as mayor in 2022 after she resigned for a second tilt at the federal seat of Corangamite, said the alternative motion at the February council meeting also concerned her.

In what has since caused much discussion both inside City Hall and throughout local sporting circles, Mr Murrihy ignored advice from council officers to seek government funding for female-friendly change rooms at Newtown and Chilwell’s Elderslie Reserve, rather than Bell Park’s Hamlyn Park.

Mr Murrihy coached the Eagles in 1998 and 1999, with his daughters later playing netball for the club.

“I believe Mr Murrihy’s longstanding personal and family connection with the Newtown and Chilwell club warrants a conversation about conflict of interest, at the very least, with regard to what was quite an extraordinary motion he put forward,” Ms Asher said.

“It’s worth noting that the increased amount of $550,000 put forward by Mr Murrihy is more than five times what was permitted by councillors through the notice of motion process during my leadership.”

Former Geelong mayor Stephanie Asher with then council chief executive Martin Cutter. Picture: Alan Barber.

Bell Park has launched a campaign urging people to contact councillors and other stakeholders.

“I demand that all necessary steps be taken immediately to rectify this gross miscarriage of judgement, and that the six councillors be held accountable for their actions,” a template email reads.

Peter Murrihy.

Melissa Cadwell, who seconded the motion, has broken ranks with other councillors who have remained silent and revealed her reasons for supporting Mr Murrihy.

Making it clear she was not speaking on behalf of her colleagues, Ms Cadwell said her role as a councillor was not to rubber stamp whatever council officers put forward.

“Council regularly deals with recommendations from council officers, and councillors are free to accept, reject or amend those recommendations as they see fit,” she said.

“Council officers made it clear that there wasn’t much difference between the Elderslie Reserve project and the Hamlyn Park project – the main difference was the Elderslie Reserve project needed greater council funding.”

Eddy Kontelj was absent from the February meeting, as was Belinda Moloney.

Mr Kontelj, a councillor of 14 years, said he would have voted against the alternative motion.

“I was very disappointed with what occurred, but I’ve been on council long enough to know anything can happen,” he said.

At the meeting, councillors also endorsed an updated conflict of interest policy.

“If you are a former coach or a life member of a club, or something like that, it actually encourages you to declare that when you are making decisions before a council chamber,” deputy mayor Anthony Aitken said on the night.

ANALYSIS

The silence out of City Hall was deafening.

That was until my phone beeped just after 9pm more than a week after Geelong council’s controversial February meeting.

“I’d rather chew broken glass, Luke. Get bent,” it read.

“Get bent”: Belinda Moloney. Picture: Glenn Ferguson.

So what had I done to be on the end of this terse – and highly unprofessional – message?

I dared ask (my local) councillor Belinda Moloney how she would’ve voted on Peter Murrihy’s motion had she been in attendance.

I suppose I should have been thankful for the reply.

The six councillors who voted for the motion hadn’t responded to questions.

Still now, Melissa Cadwell is the only one to answer, and that came after some prompting.

I suppose they hoped – or still hope – the issue would just be forgotten about.

Is this level of transparency acceptable?

It’s an important debate that must be had as we head into council elections later this year that will see 11 candidates elected to four-year terms.

Whether you support what occurred on the night or not (and from my reading, the vast majority don’t), surely the public deserves a clear and detailed explanation from the councillors who voted for the motion.

If you’re going to back such a decision, at least have the courage to own it.

The fact it came just a month after government appointed monitors – overseers – finished their year-long term just adds to the intrigue.

Would Mr Murrihy and the five councillors done the same thing had the monitors, which cost ratepayers well in excess of $100,000, still been there?

And what would the monitors have made of Mr Murrihy’s connection to the Newtown and Chilwell Football Club?

His supporters argue that connection has been grossly overstated, and without saying he has done anything wrong, would any neutral observer honestly say his connection to Bell Park is the same as Newtown?

The council elections later this year will see Geelong council revert to single-member wards and I’m pretty confident Mr Murrihy won’t be standing in the area that takes in Hamlyn Park.

Originally published as Geelong councillor Belinda Moloney gives frosty response to questions about controversial Peter Murrihy motion