Lismore City Council axes public access and question time from its meetings

After several motions stating local communities were being cut from a fair and democratic process, a Northern Rivers council has voted to severely limit public access and question time in its meetings.

Inside Lismore City Council chambers where public access has now been axed along with question time.

A Northern Rivers council has pushed through a motion to severely limit public access and question time from its meetings after pushback stalled the motion in December.

In an eight-hour test of endurance, councillors argued the review of Lismore City Council’s Code of Meeting Practice (COMP), along with other items, including the Lismore Museum fiasco in their first ordinary meeting of the year in February.

Lismore City Council 2024, Cr Andrew Gordon, back left, Cr Harper Dalton-Earls, Cr Andrew Bing, Cr Virginia Waters and Cr Adam Guise. Cr Jasmine Knight-Smith, bottom left, Cr Jeri Hall (Deputy Mayor), Mayor Steve Krieg, Cr Electra Jensen, and Cr Gianpiero Battista. Absent Cr Big Rob.

The report by staff recommended changes to the COMP including public access being held prior to each council meeting, meaning it will start at 9am and, because it’s not part of the formal meeting, councillors and staff can choose not to attend.

Council staff also recommended limiting the number of speakers to half - from four a side to two for and two against on any matter and limiting the maximum number of speakers to 10.

Speakers would have one minute slashed from their current allowance of four minutes and answers to questions would be restricted to one minute.

Cr Rob and Knight-Smith raised a motion for council not to adopt the (COMP) review until the outcome of the NSW Government review but it was voted down.

Cr Harper Dalton-Earls, left, Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg, and Cr Jasmin Knight-Smith.

In December, the government released a consultation draft of amendments to the Model Meeting Code for public comment, announcing changes to the way council meetings are conducted to ensure greater transparency and increase community confidence in council decision making.

The changes aim to simplify the Model Meeting Code and ensure councillors are making decisions in the full view of the communities they are elected to represent.

All councils are required to adopt a COMP based on the Model Meeting Code issued by the Office of Local Government (OLG).

Local government sector, key stakeholders and the community can submit their feedback on the draft Model Meeting Code up until February 28.

It is anticipated that the new Model Meeting Code will be prescribed in early 2025.

Cr Big Rob, left, and Cr Adam Guise both objected to the adopted COMP.

Cr Rob said the move to adopt changes to the COMP was now “pointless” when in a couple of months they will have the OLG Model Meeting Code and will need to change their COMP again.

Cr Gordon and Cr Krieg, Lismore Mayor, wanted the motion left as is but Cr Dalton-Earls agreed with Cr Rob saying the “sky wasn’t going to fall in” by keeping the COMP as it was before the motion to change it.

Cr Dalton-Earls said it would cost more money in the long run and create more work for staff.

Cr Guise said the changes demonstrated a decline in the democratic principles that keep council meetings open and accessible to the public.

He said reducing the number of speakers for an item limits the “breadth of diversity” council has in its communities and keeping the public out of the meeting proper denies them their voice and participating in their local government.

The motion was defeated 6-5 with Cr Rob, Guise, Dalton-Earls, and Waters voting for and Battista, Bing, Gordon, Hall, Jensen and Krieg against.

Mayor of Lismore Steve Krieg.

An amendment put forward by Cr Waters and Knight-Smith to adopt the inclusion of public access in the meeting was also defeated 6-5 with Cr Rob, Guise, Dalton-Earls, and Waters voting for and Battista, Bing, Gordon, Hall, Jensen and Krieg against.

Two more amendments were put forward by Cr Rob, Guise and Knight-Smith but these were also shot down.

A final slog at the COMP from Cr Dalton-Earls and Gordon saw council resolve to adopt the COMP with the inclusion that Public Access is livestreamed – voting 7-4 with Cr Battista, Bing, Dalton-Earls, Gordon, Hall, Jensen and Krieg voting for and Cr Guise, Knight-Smith, Rob and Waters against.

Inside Lismore City Council chambers where public access has now been axed along with question time.

What public access now means for Lismore LGA:

Public access will be held at 9am - one hour prior to the formal council meeting at 10am. Public Access will be streamed live and recorded.

The number of speakers have halved from four for and four against to two per side with a maximum of ten speakers.

Speakers time has been reduced from four minutes to three minutes each.

A one minute limit has been placed on councillor questions.

Councillors can now only submit up to three notices of motions for consideration at each ordinary council meeting.

Councillors can only submit up to three questions with notice for response at each ordinary council meeting.

Ordinary council meetings are now restricted to five hours yet can be extended by 30 minutes by resolution.

A recission motion was lodged after the meeting along with three others for a subdivision in Clunes, council’s property strategy, and the nuclear free zone peace zone policy.

Got a news tip? Email [e-mail]