Voice to Parliament: Councillors’ fiery debate as Randwick Council votes to support Yes campaign

A Sydney council meeting has descended into fury after a “respectful” and calm debate over the Voice to Parliament quickly turned into a shouting match, with a Liberal councillor calling a Greens councillor an “absolute disgrace”.

Randwick Mayor Dylan Parker.

A fiery debate has erupted at a Sydney council meeting over the Voice to Parliament with one councillor calling another an “absolute disgrace”.

During Tuesday night’s Randwick Council meeting, a mayoral minute labelled ‘A Voice to Parliament, Randwick says Yes’ was discussed and despite proceedings starting off as mayor Dylan Parker described as “very considered and respectful” it quickly descended into fury.

As part of the agenda, Randwick councillors were asked to vote for council to support the Australian government’s proposal to amend the constitution to include an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

It also asked councillors to endorse and promote the community vote for Yes in this year’s referendum where council would allocate a budget of $28,900 for a number of actions that would promote ‘Randwick says Yes’.

After hearing Mr Parker describing the need for Randwick Council to involve itself in the discussion because it “has historically … [stretched] outside of simply conventional” council issues, further councillors – Kathy Nielsen and Kym Chapple – supported the motion.

Randwick councillor Christie Hamilton. (AAP IMAGE/ Danny Aarons)

However, an amendment was suggested by Liberal councillor Christie Hamilton who said it was “detrimental for us (Randwick Council) to push one particular side” because she believed it would alienate particular members from engaging with the discussion.

“If we push one agenda, I think that we will push a lot of the community out of the conversation and by doing that, we are saying they don’t have a part in this conversation,” Cr Hamilton said.

She detailed a recent encounter with former Australian soccer player turned human rights activist Craig Foster at the Randwick shops, saying she “learnt so much from that face-to-face than I have in a while”.

A Yes vote T-shirt. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

She added: “That kind of information exchange should be happening everywhere … we should be trying to listen to everyone in the community.”

Councillor Bill Burst seconded the amendment, saying “we need to get” the referendum right and Randwick Council should not be a “campaigner for a Yes or a No”.

In discussing the amendment, Randwick Council’s director of community and culture Katie Anderson said relevant local First Nations organisations and community members were consulted before coming to a decision, promoting councillor Andrew Hay to ask whether the broader community were part of this consultation. Ms Anderson said “no we have not”.

Randwick councillor Philipa Veitch. (AAP Image/Monique Harmer)

As the amendment was being voted by councillors, a fiery dispute unfolded with Cr Hamilton calling councillor Philipa Veitch “an absolute disgrace to the council”.

“We have had Cr Veitch swear in this chamber,” Cr Hamilton said.

“The fact that I have put forward an amendment that is not controversial … none of the Liberals here, no one in here has said anything bad about the referendum except for Michael Olive bringing the race word up.

“The fact that Cr Veitch stood up … and you want to prove a point … this reaction is the reason why this [referendum] will fail, and it will be on the Greens’ hands.”

Cr Hamilton’s amendment was ultimately lost while the mayoral minute was carried.

Following the meeting, in speaking to this publication, Cr Veitch denied the accusation by Cr Hamilton that she swore in council chambers.