Darebin Council plagued by infighting, with calls for state government to intervene

Darebin Council insiders have urged the state government to intervene, and bring an end to infighting at the council.

Darebin Council has become bogged down in petty infighting, amid allegations of “bullying”, political bias, inappropriate conduct at meetings and a domineering Greens-aligned voting bloc.

Recent, late night council meetings have seen little productive debate, and have been dominated by hours of sideline disputes revolving around points of order, rulings on points of order, procedural motions, allegations of bullying and anti-democratic conduct.

The council is effectively split 5-4, with four Labor-aligned independents — Gaetano Greco, Tim Laurence, Emily Dimitriadis and Julie Williams — forming a minority faction, while the remaining five remaining councillors have formed a Greens-aligned voting “bloc” although not all are members of the Greens party.

Darebin councillor Gaetano Greco.

Darebin councillor Tim Laurence

Ms Dimitriadis, before Christmas, used a meeting to describe the conduct of the majority Greens-aligned bloc as “a disgrace”, while Mr Laurence has described them at meetings as being “unprofessional an undemocratic”.

The Greens-aligned councillors have refuted the descriptions of their conduct.

The dispute between the two rival groups has at times led to bizarre scenes, with councillor Susan Rennie accusing the four members of the minority, Labor-aligned group as “bagging Australia”, saying they should be more “positive”.

Mayor Lina Messina has been the target of particularly strong criticism, with repeated accusations she runs council meetings in a biased manner.

Darebin Mayor Lina Messina has denied claims she runs council meetings in a biased way.

She has denied those allegations, and repeated attempts to challenge her rulings at meetings have failed, with the council divided along political lines.

Councillor Tom Hannan, a Greens member, used a meeting late last year to accuse the Labor-aligned members of unprofessional conduct, saying they should be kept off an important council subcommittee because they might leak sensitive information about the chief executive’s lavish pay package.

Mr Hannan’s comment was aimed largely at councillor Gaetano Greco, who said the claim was baseless.

Council insiders, speaking on a condition of anonymity, said state government should appoint a monitor, as it had done recently at the nearby, Greens-dominated Yarra City Council.

The councillors have been told Local Government Minister Shaun Leane is “keeping an eye” on their conduct, a suggestion which drew a hostile response from members of the Greens-aligned group of councillors.

Mr Leane said: “I expect councillors to maintain high standards and practice good governance – which is what the people of Darebin rightfully expect from their elected representatives.

“We’re serious about improving culture in local councils. We want to encourage positive practices and stop negative behaviour.”