Parramatta Council’s Cr Ben Barrak expelled for eighth time, calls resident ‘idiot’
Chaotic scenes marred yet another meeting at a western Sydney council as a maverick councillor copped his marching orders for an eighth straight time and then allegedly hit out at a resident.
Parramatta Council crashed to a “humiliating” and “laughable” new low overnight as a maverick councillor was booted out of an eighth straight meeting and then allegedly called a resident an “idiot” as he left the building.
Liberal councillor Benjamin Barrak was given his marching orders after refusing to apologise to Lord Mayor Andrew Wilson for calling him a “clown” at a meeting on February 20.
A shouting match then ensued as Cr Barrak protested against the ruling by Cr Wilson and not being given the opportunity to respond.
“I’ve got a right to speak; you made accusations against me without giving me a right of reply,” Cr Barrak said.
“You called me a liar and I called you a clown in response.”
Cr Wilson, who has served as a councillor for two decades, then said: “The position of councillor is a great privilege; I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Amid the farcical scenes, Labor councillor Pierre Esber stood up in frustration and told Cr Barrak: “You have a duty to the community first.
“I ask you to think of this. We can’t do this every second Monday because it’s getting to a point now where we’re being laughed at.
“This is quite embarrassing and humiliating. We are not a tin-pot council; we’re a major council of this state.”
Cr Esber then called for the Lord Mayor to “seek an urgent meeting” with new Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock to deal with the matter, which Cr Wilson later confirmed he would do.
The council’s night from hell then took another dramatic twist when one of Cr Barrak’s constituents in his Dundas ward alleged that he was twice called an “idiot” by the councillor.
A security officer claimed he witnessed the “repeated” comment by Cr Barrak towards the constituent outside the building.
The rattled Ross Street resident, who asked not to be named, said he had asked Cr Barrak why he had not followed up a meeting with him on March 27 in relation to his concerns about a proposed car wash development at 86 Victoria Rd.
“This has shocked me; I’ll be taking this matter further, including with (State Liberal MP) Geoff Lee,” the resident said.
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Cr Barrak has not responded to a request for comment on the matter, as well as his reaction to his latest expelling.
Cr Wilson said the alleged comment to the constituent would be referred to the Office of Local Government for investigation on whether it was a code of conduct violation.
The Lord Mayor then revealed his frustration with an issue “distracting council’s good work”.
“I am an easygoing guy, but I work in tax and childcare and you can only push me so far,” Cr Wilson said.
“If (Cr Barrak) wants to continue in this fashion I can’t see any reason why he wants to be a councillor … because it doesn’t help his constituents.”
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