Peter Young found guilty of unsuitable meeting behaviour at Gold Coast event
A senior Gold Coast councillor has been disciplined for leaving before a keys to the city event, sparking a tense stand-off at City chambers. Read what happened
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A senior Gold Coast councillor has been disciplined for leaving before a keys to the city event, sparking a tense stand-off at City chambers.
Mayor Tom Tate has determined Peter Young was guilty of unsuitable meeting behaviour during the November 12 event for developer Harry Triguboff.
Mr Tate found Mr Young, under local government rules, had displayed “unsuitable meeting conduct” but did not take any “remedial action” against him for what he described as failing to show respect for a member of the public.
He only sought to have the matter recorded in the minutes, but tensions sparked after he refused to allow debate.
“Question,” Mr Young, asked the Mayor. “No question,” the Mayor replied.
“Statement,” Mr Young said. “No statement,” Mr Tate replied.
Mr Young’s colleague Glenn Tozer then attempted to “overturn the Mayor’s orders”.
“I’d like to overturn your orders, Mr Mayor. It’s a procedural motion, Mr Mayor. Unfortunately you have to take it.”
Mr Tate told him: “I’m not taking it. Sit down please.”
Outside the meeting, Mr Tate said: “There was no debate, so I followed procedure.”
In an email to the Mayor obtained by this masthead, Mr Young confirmed that on entering the chamber before the keys to the city event he remarked that the “situation was a circus”.
“I made this comment in passing to a number of councillors who were sitting in discussion,” he said.
He had asked a staffer if non-protesting ratepayers of the City — there was a rally outside — could enter to observe the meeting and was informed they could not due to “visitors’ for the event.
“It is my long-held belief that the meetings of the City of Gold Coast are open to the public for attendance provided the business being dealt with is not confidential and the persons are not protesting or possessing or displaying signs,” Mr Young wrote.
“On entering the chamber I noticed approximately 20 seats within the meeting chamber. It is not normal practice to have non-members in the chamber and I had no idea who these chairs were for.”
Mr Young said these arrangements had not occurred in his 20 years of being a councillor.
“So I referred to it as a circus as I entered the chamber, before the meeting, when I expressed my thoughts to fellow councillors. I am entitled to my opinion, and to express it,” he said.
Mr Young also addressed an allegation he had made disparaging remarks on leaving the chamber.
“I can firmly state that I reject that entirely. I left the chamber without making any remarks, except to personally and graciously welcome Mr Triguboff who was making his way into the chamber unaccompanied,” he said.
“If this were an issue of conduct within the meeting, it should have been raised in the meeting by whomever was aggrieved if this was the truth, but it is not.
“When Mr Triguboff and his entourage finally arrived, it was as if the chamber was being swamped by a very large pack of excited people who had no regard for the sanctity of the chamber as they barged inside in a noisy and mob like manner. I was flabbergasted.”
Mr Young said it was not an orderly conduct of a council meeting but a social gathering.
“While I did not feel fear I did feel intimidated by and uncomfortable with the goings on,” he said.
The protocol of the meeting was suspended for more than six minutes before the presentation to Mr Triguboff.
Mr Young said he left the meeting “quietly and without comment” except to ask Councillor Darren Taylor if he could let him know when it was over.
“I take this opportunity to apologise for my breach of meeting protocol but I trust the matter can rest at that point,” he said.
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