Merri-bek councillor James Conlan proposes motion to ban Victoria Police from holding events in council facilities

Police should be banned from holding engagement events at council-owned facilities and blacklisted from being recognised for service, a Merri-bek councillor believes.

Police should be banned from holding events in Merri-bek facilities, according to a motion put forward by councillor James Conlan. Picture: David Crosling

A plan to ban police from using Merri-bek council facilities and blacklist them from receiving recognition for service has been quashed before it could begin.

Councillor James Conlan put forward a motion for the next meeting’s agenda arguing the council had been “whitewashing police violence”.

The former Greens and now independent councillor urged the organisation to “refuse all future requests by Victoria Police to use council facilities for the purposes of hosting events for Victoria Police”.

He also called on council to “(cease) the practice of issuing community awards to any members of Victoria Police, including officers and senior leaders in the force”.

However, his motion — which would have still allowed council to call the police to meetings or events if it needed assistance — was blocked by chief executive Cathy Henderson.

“Under council’s governance rules, a councillor may submit a notice of motion to the chief executive officer in advance, to be considered for inclusion in the agenda of the next council meeting,” a spokeswoman said.

“In this case, the notice of motion was deemed by the chief executive not to meet the governance rules requirements.

“As a result this notice of motion will not be included in the agenda for the June Council meeting.”

James Conlan. Picture: Merri-bek Council

In a statement to the Herald Sun, Mr Conlan said he did not trust the police and they didn’t “keep us safe”.

“The police have a long and ongoing history of violence and intimidation against many communities, especially First Nations peoples, queers, migrants, trans people, people with mental health issues and disabilities, not to mention poor people and homeless people,” he said.

“Despite decades of pinkwashing, the police continue to bash, harass, brutalise and assault queer and trans communities, as they have done over the course of history.

“Just a few hours ago, (the Herald Sun) reported the vile, homophobic remarks made by a Victoria Police officer against a gay couple.”

In that case, Victoria Police had moved to sack the probationary constable who made the offensive remarks but lost an appeal by the constable to the Police Registration and Services Board.

“As a member of the queer community and a local councillor, I do not believe council facilities should be used by the police to allow them to buy community legitimacy in masking their systemic and ongoing violence against minorities and other communities,” Mr Conlan said.

The would-be motion immediately faced criticism from others at Merri-bek council and police.

Councillor Oscar Yildiz — who founded the police leadership awards more than a decade ago when he was the mayor — said he was “disgusted” any councillor would have the “audacity to attack hard working police” who were “trying to keep everyone of us, everyone in the Merri-bek community safe”.

“I find it abhorrent. I find it incredible insulting,” he said.

“This is the worst motion that any councillor could put up in the most difficult and the most challenging times.”

The Herald Sun reached out to all 11 Merri-bek councillors, asking which way they would have voted on the motion.

Mr Yildiz, along with Helen Davidson and Lambros Tapinos said they would not have supported any ban.

“I find the motion proposed by Cr Conlan to be completely inappropriate,” Mr Tapinos said, adding he was “embarrassed” it had been put forward for the agenda.

“VicPol is a strong partner of council and we value our collaborative relationship with VicPol and the work they do to keep the community safe.

“We want more safety forums with VicPol not less. And the awards are important recognition of their service in our local community.”

Mr Conlan had planned to support his own motion.

The remaining councillors — Mark Riley, Monica Harte, Angelica Panopoulos, Sue Bolton, Helen Pavlidis-Mihalakos, Annalivia Carli Hannan and Mayor Adam Pulford — are yet to reply.

A Police Association spokesman said they would not dignify the proposed motion with an official comment, other than providing an eye-roll emoji.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said they were aware of the proposal but it was a “matter for Merri-bek council”.

“Every day and night, police put on their uniform and serve the Merri-bek community,” she said.

“We are there every single day of the year to protect the community, often on the worst days of their lives.

“Merri-bek police take great pride in their strong community ties and work hard to foster positive working relationships with local stakeholders including council.

“As part of this we meet every month with local council and other support agencies to discuss community safety issues, and how we can work together to improve them.

“We also recently held our annual neighbourhood policing forum in Merri-bek which received great feedback from the community.”

Police Minister Anthony Carbines said those in the force worked “tirelessly every day to ensure the safety and security of the community”.

“This is a ridiculous stunt from the councillor who should stay in their lane and focus on delivering the services the community needs instead of attacking our hardworking police members,” he said.