Knox councillor Darren Pearce calls climate change activists ‘scum’, backed by Cr Tony Holland
A pair of Knox councillors — both former mayors — have been caught up in a social media storm for their views on a climate change rally during the bushfire crisis.
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A Knox councillor has been rebuked by the mayor after he described climate protesters as “scum” in a social media post.
The post — which drew strong public responses — will spark a review of the council’s social media policy.
Cr Darren Pearce has been slammed on Facebook after rebuking climate protesters publicly on his councillor page during the January 10 rally.
Fellow councillor Tony Holland joined in the debate in the post’s comments, mocking people’s responses and views.
And while the post met with mixed community response — some supporting his views — many people were disgusted and called the pair “unprofessional”.
The move by both councillors prompted Knox Mayor Nicole Seymour to make a statement on social media, calling for the pair to make a public apology, and telling the community she would review the council’s social media policy.
In the post Cr Pearce slammed the people who joined in the rally as “self-centred, self-indulgent, scum”, who were taking already stretched emergency personnel away from the national bushfire crisis.
Cr Pearce edited the post later, changing the word ‘scum’ to idiots.
Many were unimpressed with Cr Pearce’s post, with Michael Colling-Semens saying it was heading into “Trump territory”.
Mr Colling-Semens said: “Having an extreme opinion is one thing, but being so aggressively unprofessional on your professional social media platform is another.”
Lisa Lou said she was disappointed her local councillors were using a professional public profile to contribute to divisive debate.
“Maybe instead of bagging out people who are trying to raise awareness for their concerns, you could get out there and use your profile for fundraising events or something more useful,” Ms Lou wrote.
“This isn’t helping, it’s just polarising the community even more.”
Cr Holland joined in the debate, agreeing with Cr Pearce and replying to people’s comments on the post.
He told one person they should be ashamed of themselves “protesting whilst Victoria burns”.
Cr Holland told Knox Leader he would not make a public apology and stood by what he said in the post.
“My view was it (the rally) was a waste of time and space on that day,” Cr Holland said.
“There will be no public apology, I don’t think I’ve breached anything and I stand by what I’ve said.”
Meanwhile Cr Seymour was quick to express her disappointment at the pair’s actions.
She said the incident did not reflect the standard expected of an elected official.
Cr Seymour said she would hold private talks with councillors about social media conduct early next month.
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In her public post on Facebook, she said: “I have spoken with the councillors involved and expressed my disappointment with their conduct and the damage to council’s reputation within the community.”
“The views expressed are those of the authors, and they are solely responsible and accountable for their choice of words and tone,” the post said.
Cr Pearce did not respond to Leader’s request for comment.