Sydney mayors in letter fight over recording of Gladys Berejiklian meeting

Furious accusations have emerged over a recording of a meeting attended by former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Two Sydney mayors have traded angry letters after one of them allowed a cameraman to record the introduction of a meeting they attended with Gladys Berejiklian and other local leaders last month.

Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour received a letter from Liverpool Mayor Wendy Waller after she saw a news report that included footage of the virtual Berejiklian meeting filmed in Mr Asfour’s office.

The then-NSW Premier had agreed to the meeting with western Sydney mayors after significant pressure from the local leaders, who wanted her to hear their concerns about the extra-tough lockdown measures in place across the area.

Ms Waller said it was “rude” and alleged it was illegal to record the meeting without asking permission from the other attendees.

“I wrote to him and pointed out he broke the law,” Ms Waller told NCA NewsWire, referring to the Surveillance Devices Act which prohibits the use of listening devices to record a private conversation subject to certain exceptions.

The introduction of the meeting was filmed in Mr Asfour's office, to be used as "overlay" by news channels.

She also wrote a letter to Ms Berejiklian about what happened.

“I said ‘Look, I apologise, I had nothing to do with it and I thought it was very unprofessional,” Ms Waller said.

But Mr Asfour responded with a fiery letter of his own, writing to Ms Waller to express his “shock” at her reaction and strenuously refuting the suggestion that the recording broke the law.

“I fail to understand how you could reasonably believe a meeting between the Premier, and the mayors from the LGA hot spots, would be deemed private,” Mr Asfour wrote.

“The meeting was to discuss issues of public concern and had been the subject of much significant debate and scrutiny in the media prior to the Premier relenting to meet.

“In fact, a few days before calling the meeting, the Premier was repeatedly quizzed by journalists, as to why she wouldn’t meet. Again, I would respectfully suggest, this was not a private meeting.”

The meeting was held during Gladys Berejiklian’s last month as NSW Premier. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

Mr Asfour also pointed out the footage, shot during the meeting’s introduction, was filmed by a Channel 9 journalist with the intention of sharing it with other media.

He said the footage was meant to be used as “overlay” by news channels and that Channel 9 “were told not to record any conversations.”

“Ms Waller, in no way did Council endorse the recording of the conversation,” Mr Asfour wrote.

The September 14 meeting happened after nearly a month of pressure from the mayors of the 12 Sydney local government areas that were under the city’s harshest lockdown restrictions.

The western and southwestern Sydney leaders requested the meeting in mid-August, and reacted with fury when the Premier’s office declined to meet in a response sent two weeks later.

When the meeting finally happened, it was conducted in groups of four mayors at a time.

Mr Asfour has previously said the meeting he attended got “a little bit heated”.

“We raised … concerns about the different discrimination that we‘re feeling in the areas of concern, where the meeting got a little bit heated,” he said after the meeting concluded.

In his letter to Ms Waller, dated September 20, he said he felt the meeting had “achieved a number of concessions for our community”.

Ms Berejiklian stepped down as Premier on October 1.

Originally published as Sydney mayors in letter fight over recording of Gladys Berejiklian meeting