Canterbury-Bankstown councillor Barbara Coorey censured for third time over alleged conduct breaches

A southwest councillor has been censured for a third time after she described the council as “kooky” and “dysfunctional” in a series of social media posts.

Canterbury-Bankstown councillor Barbara Coorey.

A Canterbury-Bankstown councillor has been censured for a third time after she described her council as “kooky” and “dysfunctional” in a series of social media posts.

Independent councillor Barbara Coorey was formally censured last Tuesday in a closed session of an ordinary council meeting.

It is understood the censure is in relation to an incident on June 28 when chief executive Matthew Stewart was advised Cr Coorey had engaged in “inappropriate conduct” through Facebook posts which “had the potential to bring the council and officers of council into disrepute”.

Cr Coorey also described the council “whose interest only seem to be to the western side which we have no connection with”.

The Facebook posts also contained comments from Cr Coorey in which she stated: “I guess one can say I’ve been ‘cleaning up’ council since I’ve been elected.”

The independent councillor also commented: “The group in charge of Bankstown have pulled the plug on most services since the merger …”

Councillor Barbara Coorey was censured at the last council meeting. Picture: Matthew Vasilescu

In council’s submissions, Cr Coorey’s comments were “inappropriate and baseless”.

Canterbury-Bankstown council’s social media policy stated council officials must not use social media to post or share comments “about council or council officials that are misleading and deceptive”.

However in Coorey’s submissions, her legal team stated its client denied breaching any code of conduct and there was “no doubt” she was expressing her own opinion.

Her submission stated Mr Stewart emailed Cr Coorey to remove or modify the Facebook posts on June 28 and sent an email to council staffers on July 24 to alert them the councillor had not removed or edited the posts.

However, Coorey’s legal team argued it was “clearly noted in the edit history that the comments were edited and corrected on June 28”.

Her team argued the complaints were brought forward with “malicious intent” and with the intention to “intimidate our client” who would be “lodging a complaint with the relevant authorities about the handling of this matter”.

Canterbury-Bankstown councillor Barbara Coorey.

Councillor Coorey did not wish to provide a comment.

The council resolved in a confidential meeting that Cr Coorey had breached part three (General Conduct Obligations) under section 440G of the Local Government Act 1993.

The breach included “conducting oneself in a manner that is improper or unethical”.

The council also resolved to refer the matter onto the Office of Local Government for further action.

This comes after the council submitted in the last meeting the code of conduct complaints statistics to the Office of Local Government.

Between September 1 2022 to August 31 2023, council received eight complaints, with three complaints finalised.

The report also found the cost of dealing with code of conduct complaints about councillors and the general manager, including staff costs, totalled $67,88.

Cr Coorey was censured in the March and August council meetings following an incident involving a Greek flag and a council staffer, and a discussion with the general manager Matthew Stewart about the amalgamation of council.