Mildura MP Ali Cupper taking defamation action against Mayor Simon Clemence
Mildura’s state MP is taking defamation action against the city’s retiring mayor, who made several parting shots in a 5000-word Facebook post.
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Member for Mildura Ali Cupper says she plans to take legal action against Mildura Mayor Simon Clemence after the retiring councillor aired a raft of claims on social media.
Cr Clemence last Wednesday published a 5000-word post to Facebook about his one term in local government.
Ms Cupper, who was a Mildura councillor before being elected to state parliament in 2018, said she would on Monday engage a legal team to commence defamation proceedings.
“That statement contained a whole litany of allegations about me which I would submit are false, highly misleading, and/or defamatory,” she said.
“I strongly believe this sort of behaviour needs to be stood up to and I plan to lead by example.”
Cr Clemence claimed there had been a “deal” between himself and four other Mildura councillors, including Ms Cupper, concerning who would hold the mayor and deputy mayor positions over a three-year period.
Cr Clemence claimed he was to hold the mayor role in the second year of the deal but step aside in the third year, which councillors voted on in November last year.
He was ultimately elected at that vote, with councillors split 5-4.
Cr Clemence claimed a meeting of the “deal” group was called before the vote, when it became apparent he might seek another year as mayor.
He claimed Ms Cupper, by then Member for Mildura and no longer a councillor, attended the meeting and offered him a job in her office during discussions about the “deal”.
Holding the mayoral role this year was said to hold significance because it would provide a profile boost ahead of the elections for an new council, now under way.
Cr Clemence has since deleted his post and his Facebook page no longer has “Mildura councillor” in its title.
Liberal Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell said she had asked the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) to investigate the claims.
“These are very serious allegations that will undermine the Mildura community’s confidence in their elected representatives,” Ms Lovell said.
An IBAC spokesperson said it generally does not comment on whether a complaint or investigation is before it, for legal and operational reasons.
Ms Cupper is an independent who won her seat from the Coalition.
Cr Clemence’s post contained some inaccuracies.
He retracted a comment that referenced the Northern Mallee Leaders group and also apologised to the manager of Mildura City Heart for errors.
The wrong solar company was named in references to the developer of three solar farm projects and the name of councillor Min Poole, who was not part of the claimed “deal” group, was frequently misspelled.
Cr Clemence claimed meetings took place at “the Setts” but did not specify whether he was referring to the pub or business centre which share the same building.
The owner of the pub, a council candidate, said the meetings were not held at his business.
Cr Clemence is a former police officer who was third-elected during his first step into politics at the 2016 council elections.
He attracted scrutiny after taking on the role of chief executive for a Mildura-based flying school for Chinese pilots while mayor.
Critics of him holding the two roles have included councillors and council candidates.
Cr Clemence told the ABC he had undergone a “constant barrage of attacks” over the past year, which he linked to the decision by him to run for mayor again.
He said “payback” was partly a motivation for his Facebook post.
“It’s giving my side of the story so that the community know who they’re voting for and what’s going on in the background,” he said.
“It’s also a bit of payback in the sense that I’ve been attacked for so long, well, I’ve had enough.”
Mildura Rural City Council chief executive Sarah Philpott said the council did not resource or manage Cr Clemence’s Facebook page or its content.
“We have considered the matter,” Ms Philpott said.
“The comments made by Cr Clemence on Facebook were his personal comments.
“The comments were not made on behalf of, endorsed or authorised by Mildura Rural City Council.”
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