Dubbo mayor Ben Shields, deputy Stephen Lawrence clash

A war of words has erupted at a meeting of a troubled council in western NSW with the mayor and his deputy coming to blows over an independent investigation.

Dubbo councillors have unanimously backed a proposal to launch an independent probe into how past complaints were handled by the organisation despite having no idea how much it will cost ratepayers.

The unprecedented decision was made at a dramatic council meeting on Monday, which saw embattled Mayor Ben Shields and his disgruntled deputy Stephen Lawrence face off in public for the first time since March when Cr Shields attempted to take his own life after he lost the support of most of his fellow councillors because of conduct concerns.

Dubbo mayor Ben Shields refused to back down at a May 24, 2021 meeting of council. Picture: Ryan Young

Speaking in support of the motion he launched to appoint an independent investigator, Cr Lawrence said the right person for the job would be recommended to council by the CEO of Local Government NSW at a later date.

He said the investigation would look at how council handled past of conduct complaints and if unreasonable decisions had been made internally to “summarily dismiss” the complaints.

“There’s always an organisational tendency for defensiveness to take over … we need to move past those approaches,” Cr Lawrence told the meeting.

“We need to hire a very well qualified person, perhaps someone with a background in policing.

“Hopefully this can be a fairly quick process.”

Cr Lawrence said the investigation would not be able to “simply rehash” past complaints, but it would focus on how they were handled and if council had properly complied with it’s legal and regulatory obligations.

He said such obligations included to ensure workplace health and safety and that people were not subjected to sexual harassment.

While speaking in support of the motion Cr Lawrence issued a warning to people he claimed were threatening him because of his decision to withdraw support for the mayor.

“I’ve heard that if certain things happen I might get bashed … people have said things about me on Facebook.

“I’m not concerned about those threats.”

Cr Lawrence said in his job as a barrister he was used to standing up to bullies and the threats made against him were condemned by Ben Shields’ team member Cr Dayne Gumley.

Dubbo councillor Dayne Gumley at the May 24, 2021 council meeting. Picture: Ryan Young

Every councillor supported the independent investigation, Cr Gumley said.

“Because there was no identified funding to appoint an investigator it’s been put over to square that away so that everything is legal and correct,” he told The Dubbo News.

“Once the CEO has the opportunity to figure out how much it’s going to cost and where that money is going to come from then it will come back to council and be voted on.”

Cr Shields said the push for an investigation needed to go further.

“The divisions within council are becoming ridiculously unworkable,” Cr Shields said.

“I believe we should have a full investigation … I therefore call on the state government to sack Dubbo Regional Council, it is the only way we can move forward.

“The council is falling apart, there are two clear factions … we have become dysfunctional … we do know this is mainly about an election coming up in September.”

After Cr Shields suggested the investigation push was largely about an election, Cr Lawrence hit back during the public meeting and said “it’s because you’ve acted improperly”.

Cr Shields has denied any wrongdoing and pledged to fight any allegations made against him.

A report on the cost of the investigation is due to be presented to council within 14 days and another extraordinary meeting will be held to deal with it.

Cr Lawrence said calls to sack the council were proof Cr Shields was “spitting the dummy” and trying to create a sense of dysfunction because he lost control of the council.

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