Stonnington mayor takes out court order banning council watchdog from demeaning online posts

The head of a high-profile council watchdog has been hit with an intervention order after the mayor of Stonnington Council sought protections for alleged online abuse and harassment.

Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz granted the interim public safety order on Tuesday after a long-running feud between Council Watch president Dean Hurlston and Stonnington mayor Melina Sehr escalated following the local government elections last October.

Stonnington Council mayor Melina Sehr.Credit: Facebook

An affidavit by Sehr, part of which was aired in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, alleged that Hurlston used pseudonyms to contact her and her then-employer, which she claimed led to her losing her job. A Facebook post also accused Sehr of using the recent death of her mother to dodge media inquiries.

Sehr said she had been suffering from anxiety, depression, sleeplessness and had lost income following “an unrelenting stream of mockery, belittlement and abuse, together with a constant stream of criticism, ridicule and misogynistic attacks”.

Council Watch is a long-running association that positions itself as a self-styled local government watchdog, managing Facebook groups that discuss council matters in different municipalities across Victoria.

Hurlston’s partner, Joe Gianfriddo, served as Stonnington mayor before Sehr. Gianfriddo lost at last year’s council elections in a one-on-one battle against councillor Jami Klisaris, an ally of Sehr.

Sehr first applied for an interim intervention order against Hurlston in January, but this was refused. The matter returned to court this month after Sehr collated new material for the magistrate to consider.

Local government activist Dean Hurlston.Credit: Simon Schluter

Sehr, a councillor for 23 years, gave evidence about the impacts on her of a now-deleted post on Stonnington Council Watch that accused her of weaponising the death of her mother.

“I can’t even put it in words that at a time of extreme grief someone would go to those lengths to further attack me,” she said.

Sehr also alleged that she saw Gianfriddo drive past her property three times within a few minutes in February.

In February, Hurlston accused Sehr of “double-dipping” while mayor and quietly holding down an IT contract with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Hurlston denied he posed a safety threat and told the court that when he was notified by Sehr’s team of four posts they deemed offensive, he immediately deleted them.

“I’ve always of my own volition tried to be reasonable,” he said.

Hurlston told the court that he had a diploma in journalism and when given information about Sehr working for VCAT, he sought to verify those details. He said he was not trying to cause her to lose her job.

He said Council Watch had 30,000 members and while helmed by him, involved many people and did not favour any side of politics.

“We are very serious what we do,” he said. “Saying that we disguise ourselves as political commentary is essentially public officials saying that their safety is at risk because of criticism. Sometimes the language is salacious or a little bit brutal but that’s the nature of what we do.”

Hurlston denied Gianfriddo’s involvement and said his partner used Sehr’s street to get to work, and that they had no desire to put her under surveillance.

Mykytowycz deemed an interim order necessary to protect Sehr from mental harm from behaviour allegedly attributed to Hurlston. She cited a psychologist report that outlined fears for Sehr’s health.

Mykytowycz said she was conscious Hurlston had not yet had an opportunity to present his version of events, but that she was concerned about slurs “camouflaged by a broader discourse grounded in political commentary”.

She said she was also concerned about the alleged use of false names to email Sehr and her former employer.

The court’s threshold for an interim intervention order is lower to that required for a final order. The matter is expected to return to court in June when Mykytowycz said the court would examine whether language allegedly used by Hurlston should be classed as political commentary or harassment.

A public safety intervention order is a civil matter, meaning Hurlston has not faced criminal charges.

The interim order’s list of conditions includes that Hurlston cannot publish via the internet, social media or email anything about Sehr personally that could be construed as demeaning, derogatory or intimidating.

The order does not prevent Hurlston from attending council meetings or from publishing material about Sehr in her capacity as mayor.

After the order was granted, Sehr said she was relieved and looked forward to the opportunity to argue for a final order with the support of witnesses.

“It’s a step forward for community-minded people who have experienced ongoing harassment and intimidation well beyond what a reasonable person would consider as political discourse.”

Hurlston said: “I respect the court’s decision to uphold the rights to free speech and the critique of public elected persons.”

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