Ned Mannoun’s Liverpool council under threat of suspension

THE Local Government minister has called for an investigation into Liverpool council after police were called to last night’s public meeting to restore peace.

Liverpool Council is now under investigation after police were called to restore peace at a council meeting last night.

The meeting was suspended after Mayor Ned Mannoun blocked an urgency motion to have CEO Carl Wulff sacked, prompting a menacing backlash from councillors and the packed public gallery.

Local Government Minister Paul Toole has requested a full briefing from the department on the matter, a spokeswoman confirmed.

This could be the third Sydney council in a month facing castigation by the State Government, after Auburn and North Sydney councils were suspended.

Up to seven councillors were prepared to support Councillor Peter Ristevski’s motion to have Mr Wulff removed, the Liverpool Leader understands.

The urgency motion never made it to the vote however, after Cr Mannoun and Cr Ristevski locked horns over the legality of the motion.

Many of the 150 people in the public gallery heckled throughout the process, with a clear divide in loyalties between the two Liberal councillors.

An attempt to restore order with an adjournment only caused further public furore and the police were called to disperse people in the reception of the council chambers.

Ned Mannoun, Liverpool Mayor

Liverpool Councillor Peter Ristevski

Cr Ristevski was ultimately expelled from the meeting for refusing to apologise to the mayor, in a move that caused six more councillors to walk out.

A security guard was called to escort Cr Ristevski from the meeting.

Other councillors were left visibly shaken after at least two were allegedly threatened by members of the public.

Police escorted the retreating councillors to their cars amid the turmoil.

This morning Cr Ristevski was still upset over being expelled from the meeting.

“He forcefully removed me from the council chambers,” Cr Ristevski said.

Cr Mannoun will now call on Local Government Minister Peter Toole to intervene which could see the council handed over to administrators. "I’ve never seen anything in my almost eight years of local government of behaviour like this,” Cr Mannoun said after the meeting.

“It’s very important councillors follow proper process. No one is above the law and the council should not think they’re above the law,” Cr Mannoun said.

“We need the Minister to step in, we need him to remind councillors that they have a responsibility to the ratepayers.”

Cr Ristevski said both Mr Wulff and the mayor should be sacked.

“I’d like to get the Minister to step in and sack the mayor and the CEO. The councillors have done nothing wrong,” Cr Ristevski said.

Mr Wulff was under attack last night amid concerns he misled both his colleagues and council workers about asbestos-contaminated sites.

He was also sledged for his attempts to privatise a number of jobs in the council.

The United Services Union continued its attack this morning, after it staged a rowdy protest outside the council chambers last night.

USU general secretary Graeme Kelly said the meeting was due to discuss allegations the CEO had kept councillors, the public and workers in the dark about asbestos-contaminated soil that was placed in more than a dozen local parks by the council.

“Mayor Ned Mannoun’s refusal to allow councillors to debate the future of the CEO, despite the serious allegations that he put the health of workers and the community at risk, was an appalling attack on the most basic elements of local democracy,” Mr Kelly said.

Two council employees have returned lung screens confirming the presence of asbestos-related anomalies, the union alleges.

“At the end of the day, these are serious allegations, and they need to be debated,” he said.

The Local Government Minister has been contacted for comment.

More details to come.