Byron Shire Mayor Michael Lyon had just wrapped up a marathon six-hour council meeting when he decided to join a handful of his fellow councillors for an after-work drink in Mullumbimby.
Lyon had gone head-to-head with a resident just before the meeting in a testy exchange over the town’s water supply that would later end up the subject of a bullying and harassment complaint against the popular independent mayor.
Byron Shire Mayor Michael Lyon, pictured in October last year.Credit: Danielle Smith
The complaint was dismissed, but the argy-bargy before the meeting, which Lyon says carried on without incident, was just the start of his troubles.
About five hours after Lyon joined his colleagues for the drink in Mullumbimby on August 1, in good spirits, police were on their way to his home at The Pocket, a rural hamlet outside the North Coast town, responding to reports of a “domestic incident”.
Officers were told Lyon had assaulted a woman known to him before fleeing. There were no reports of injuries. He presented himself to police the next day and was arrested, charged with common assault and stalking/intimidation, and granted bail. The police are also seeking an apprehended violence order against him.
Lyon’s arrest – just two weeks before nominations closed for September’s local government elections – has thrown his re-election campaign into disarray.
Surfers ride the waves at The Pass, Byron Bay.Credit: Danielle Smith
Rumours are now swirling in Byron and the other towns and villages in the shire about what happened at The Pocket that night.
Tweed Heads Local Court won’t hear the details of the allegations until March, when the matter is listed for hearing, and Lyon does not want to elaborate, other than to say he did nothing wrong.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and says the situation is the result of a “misunderstanding”. Outside court on Tuesday, he said it was “driven by police” and the alleged victim did not want Lyon to face criminal charges.
He secured an interim suppression order to stop the media reporting on the case on August 19, on the basis publicity could harm the alleged victim, but he failed to secure a permanent suppression order in Tweed Heads Local Court on Tuesday after objections from the Herald and other media outlets.
Michael Lyon takes part in an inquiry into the Northern Rivers floods in 2022.Credit: Natalie Grono
By then, Lyon’s supporters, including a public relations consultant who works with local property developers, had emailed the Herald and other outlets demanding without justification they take down stories published before the interim suppression order was made.
Lyon, who started on council as a Greens councillor before losing pre-selection, says he instructed his lawyer to do all he could to get the stories taken down as they were upsetting the alleged victim.
“The suppression order was to protect [the alleged victim]; it wasn’t about trying to hush it up for political purposes, and that’s why I was upset with the way it got dealt with in court,” Lyon says.
He says the timing of the alleged incident on August 1 “couldn’t have been worse, in terms of [electoral] registrations being due, and how little time I had to think about it, to reflect on it, not to mention that I had to deal with a highly upsetting incident for my family.
“I’m not talking about the actual incident necessarily, I’m talking about what followed – the scrum, all of those things.
“I had to make a judgment at the time, in the best way that I could. I maintain, as I have done all along, that I haven’t done anything wrong, and on that basis I made the decision to run.
“I love my job and I’ve been given a lot of messages of support from the community, and I feel like I’ve been delivering in my role.”
But two candidates who were meant to be on Lyon’s “Byron Independents” ticket pulled out after his arrest. One was Mark Swivel, a lawyer and sitting councillor, who will now run on Labor’s ticket under mayoral candidate Asren Pugh.
“He was walking to victory – he was absolutely walking it in,” Swivel says of Lyon’s chances before August 1, saying the mayor had done a good job over the past three years.
Byron candidate Mark Swivel.
Lyon led a statewide charge for tighter restrictions on holiday letting, securing an annual 60-day cap last year for much of the Byron shire to address the housing crisis.
But Swivel says he withdrew from Lyon’s ticket when he learned the nature of the charges against Lyon and determined that as a lawyer, there was a reputational risk for him to remain in his group even though the charges are only pending and remain before the courts.
One original candidate, Jeanette Martin, remains on Lyon’s ticket, while two new candidates have joined – Max Foggon and Rhett Holt.
Swivel says he was appalled by Lyon’s comments outside court on Tuesday.
“A mayor has to work with the police. How tenable is it for a mayor to publicly complain about the behaviour of the police in a matter that is affecting him?
“The only proper thing a public official, let alone a leader, in his situation, could do is to be humble and accept the predicament he’s in, and show the community he understands the police have a difficult job.
“He should have shown as the mayor that he understands how important domestic violence is in this community, and around the country, and everywhere on Earth. He didn’t. He sent the message that he was prepared to complain about the way police had handled this matter … it brings the council into disrepute.
“Some things are so much bigger than local politics. Men have to be strong on DV in all circumstances and send the right signal to the community.”
Lyon, however, disagrees his comments amount to a criticism of the police, and says he was not trying to exert pressure.
“What it was, was highlighting that [the alleged victim] has never rung to make a complaint, and didn’t ever want any criminal matters or an AVO. It’s never something she wanted,” he says.
“I get why the laws are the way they are, and I understand there are situations where people are coerced. It’s not that I don’t understand it. I think in the circumstances of any individual case, the system needs to be able to react more appropriately depending on the circumstances of each individual case.”
Swivel says he counselled Lyon to pull out of the campaign after his arrest and focus on his family, but he had not taken his advice.
“The real issue here is that from the outset, the mayor has tried to control the situation and viewed it entirely through the prism of his own interest.”
The charges against Lyon will be heard in Tweed Heads Local Court on March 11.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) and the Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800) for people aged 5 to 25.