Worried councils won’t get state help to improve security as meetings get hostile

Councils will have to foot the bill for increased security when dealing with rowdy protesters after the state government refused to provide any additional funding while downplaying the extent of the problem.

The City of Monash on Wednesday became the latest council to have one of its public meetings targeted by members of groups including My Place and Reignite Democracy Australia, which espouse views often associated with alt-right or conspiracy theory thinking and can be hostile to the LGBTQ community.

Police and security staff wrangled a crowd of almost 200 people who descended on the council’s Glen Waverley offices, many to protest against a sold-out drag queen story time event planned for children and parents at Oakleigh Library next month.

Protesters verbally abused attending residents and repeatedly labelled councillors “paedophiles”, forcing the council to temporarily adjourn proceedings. The drag queen hosting the library event, Sam T, says she has also received death threats.

Minister Steve Dimopoulos, a former Mayor of Monash whose electorate is home to the library, told a press conference on Friday that this week’s protest was “absolutely unsound and ridiculous” but he downplayed the wider threat to councils.

“Let’s not over-exaggerate this,” he said. “I can’t see this happening regularly. It seemed fairly rare to me in terms of how often it would happen in a public council meeting.”

People in the public gallery in the Monash Council meeting on Wednesday night.Credit: Facebook/Real Rukshan

At least 15 councils statewide have been disrupted in recent months by fringe groups that concern themselves with conspiracies involving 5G, gender issues, lockdowns, vaccination and 15-minute cities.

Dimopoulos said the Victorian parliament was open to the public every day and most governments operated that way.

“Obviously a council has to make a judgement according to the circumstances of a particular meeting and whether it’s safe to operate in a physical sense or a remote sense,” he said.

Local Government Minister Melissa Horne, who has spoken with Monash Council Mayor Tina Samardzija, said the activity at recent meetings was “completely unacceptable”.

Police guard the Monash council offices ahead of Wednesday night’s meeting.Credit: Paul Jeffers

“A number of councils have raised concerns regarding the behaviour of MyPlace and similar groups – these groups do not act in the best interests of the broader community,” she said.

But the Victorian government will not step in to help councils beef up their security, despite some calls from some councils for financial assistance.

“The decisions to invest in increased security remains a matter for individual councils,” a government spokeswoman said.

The Municipal Association of Victoria has recommended affected councils move their public meetings online.

Stuart Hamilton, director of integrity body Accountability Round Table, said it was worrying that councils were having to close public galleries and shift to online meetings.

“I hope councils don’t start using this as an excuse to go private,” he said. “Having transparent, open council meetings is an absolute cornerstone of local government democracy.”

Hamilton said shutting council doors to the public should be avoided except in extreme circumstances.

“It is sad but understandable,” he said. “The best thing would be to continue with open meetings and find a way of improving security. Online is second best but far better than simply closing down public access.”

Hamilton said it was likely protests by fringe groups, like the one at Monash City Council, were a continuing threat that needed to be dealt with.

“I think it would be foolish to assume it is a one-off. It is importing American behaviour.”

Municipal Association of Victoria president David Clark has opposed turning council meetings into high-security operations because it was expensive, risked provoking protesters further and undermined local democracy.

Clark said online meetings still allowed for public participation and he expected councils who moved their meetings online to return to in-person public galleries as soon as it was safe to do so.

“The reason [fringe protesters are] there is because we’re accessible; they’ve got the opportunity and they’re taking it​,​” Clark said on Thursday.​

Yarra Ranges Council closed its public gallery after months of intimidation from protesters. Mayor Jim Child told Wednesday’s online meeting the decision would be reviewed in coming months.

“I’m extremely disappointed that we had to make this decision but the consistent disruptive behaviour has left us without the choice,” Child said.

Clark feared that councillor meet-and-greets, which are core to their work, were at risk of becoming unsafe. He was also concerned for the security of council-run events like Monash’s library drag story time.

Drag queen Sam T, who is hosting story time at Oakleigh Library next month.

Drag queen Sam T, who is hosting the Monash event, said she had been flooded by vile messages.

“I did not anticipate death threats, revolting slurs being hurled my way, or for my safety to be at risk,” she said.

“I understand the difference between a club performance, a hen’s party, or in this case, reading to children on a day that is supposed to be celebrating love and acceptance. Nothing about my reading a book to children is subversive or overtly sexual,” she said.

Monash councillor Dr Josh Fergeus, who also been threatened with violence over the library drag event, said he was concerned people would be put off running for council, particularly women and people from minority groups who might feel vulnerable.

“It’s already very difficult to get people to engage from a diversity of backgrounds and this sort of behaviour just makes it worse,” Fergeus said.

Samuel Wilson, associate professor of leadership at Swinburne University, said the aggression might deter both would-be councillors as well as ratepayers from participating in local government.

“Not everyone has an appetite for this type of argument with all the name-calling,” he said.

Wilson said the issues being pursued by protesters were not the usual matters of local councils.

“Unlike state or federal governments, people can directly contact their local councillors so they may be being held accountable for things they are not responsible for.”

With Lachlan Abbott

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