Council taken to court for closing public gallery at meetings

An associate of a group that has been disrupting local government meetings to shout anti-government theories has taken a Melbourne council to the Supreme Court over its decision to close meetings to the public.

Yarra Ranges Council shut its public gallery “until further notice” in April after what it described as months of intimidating and abusive behaviour by people who came to watch meetings, including adherents of fringe conspiracy group My Place Australia.

Residents in the public gallery at a civil Yarra Ranges Council meeting in February. Some meetings have been disrupted by conspiracy theorists.Credit: Eddie Jim

Much of the anger in the public gallery came from concerns about the council’s urban design framework – a planning document commonly used by municipalities to guide infrastructure and development in council areas – and its embrace of the 20-minute city concept.

Conspiracy theorists believe the urban planning concepts of 15- or 20-minute cities, which aim to offer residents key services within walking distance of their homes, are a ploy to keep people locked in their suburbs.

Plaintiff Darren Dickson – a frequent speaker about common law at My Place events, and who regularly appears in the group’s promotional material – has initiated legal proceedings against Yarra Ranges Council, and the case reached the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

He claims the council, which sits on Melbourne’s eastern outskirts, has failed to engage the community in a meaningful way over its design framework for the tourist town of Monbulk. He also claims that its decision to close the public gallery “alienated the people of the community from participating in the democratic process”.

Dickson, who runs the Constitution Watch website, initially wanted the council to delay its vote on the framework for 12 months.

“I’d also like to extend the hand of communication, as we have in the past, to council if they’d like to work this out,” Dickson told the court. “Another reason why we’ve been forced to come to the court is because council refused to engage with us.”

But the council is yet to decide on the framework, and meetings – which were streamed online while the gallery was closed, and allowed people to register to ask questions – will reopen to the public next Tuesday.

Yarra Ranges had originally planned to vote on the framework mid-year, but the court heard on Tuesday that the council won’t consider the proposal until September.

The framework was also open to public consultation between December and March.

A Yarra Ranges Council spokeswoman said the decision to close the public gallery “was only temporary, and we commenced planning for its reopening shortly after closing”.

The council had to deploy security guards from January, and earlier this year closed a meeting and called police after more than 100 “agitators” became raucous and disruptive.

In April, the council said it had closed the public gallery because of an increasing pattern of verbal abuse, intimidation and anti-social behaviour demonstrated by some members of the public during council meetings.

Dickson said in his writ that there was no evidence to substantiate that members of the public in the chamber were a danger. He was approached for comment.

Supreme Court Justice Melinda Richards set the matter for a one-day trial on August 3.

In April, this masthead reported that more than a dozen Victorian councils said their activities were being disrupted by members of the My Place network.

Some My Place members espouse a range of controversial ideas, including a misleading sovereign citizen theory of legal rights known as “pseudolaw”, which argues that taxes, land titles and even governments are illegitimate. Also prevalent are the anti-vaccination and “freedom” movement ideas popularised during COVID-19 lockdowns, and conspiracies around 5G “radiation poisoning”.

In Gippsland on Monday night, Latrobe City Council held its meeting online after chief executive Steven Piasente flagged recent behaviour in the public gallery that had raised concerns for the psychological welfare of council staff and councillors.

Council Watch, formerly Ratepayers Victoria, condemned the move to shift meetings online.

“It is vital that local government remains transparent to the communities they serve,” said vice president Dean Hurlston.

“Closing meetings in the absence of legitimate safety concerns is unacceptable.”

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