Derwent Valley mayor Michelle Dracoulis cautioned over code of conduct breach

Derwent Valley mayor Michelle Dracoulis breached the code of conduct because of the wording in a post on social media. Why the panel says she was in breach.

Michelle Dracoulis is mayor of the Derwent Valley. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Derwent Valley mayor Michelle Dracoulis has received a code of conduct caution over a social media post she made about the council’s dispute with the New Norfolk Distillery this year.

In the post on May 26, Ms Dracoulis, who was recently preselected to run for Labor in the seat of Lyons, wrote about the proposed sale of buildings at Willow Court, which the distillery had hoped to secure for its expansion.

Simultaneously, the council was locked in a dispute with the distillery about three years of rent it claimed it was owed, adding up to nearly $80,000.

“Everything we do as a council should be transparent and informed, and I cannot support backroom, handshake deals that compromise our modest budget or put us in a position of potential future disadvantage,” Ms Dracoulis said online.

The owner of the distillery, Tarrant Derksen, lodged a code of conduct complaint against Ms Dracoulis over the Facebook post.

New Norfolk Distillery director Tarrant Derksen. Picture: Chris Kidd

Part of the complaint was upheld, and the code of conduct panel found Ms Dracoulis had breached the code: that a councillor must not cause any reasonable person offence or embarrassment and that a councillor must show respect when expressing personal views publicly.

The panel took issue with Ms Dracoulis’ wording around “backroom handshake deals” which would put the council in a “a position of future disadvantage”.

“[The post] was offensive in that implied that the New Norfolk Distillery proponents had asked for some sort of backroom, handshake deal,” the panel said.

“And was embarrassing in that indicated that the proponents were asking for something that would put the community at disadvantage.”

The Panel said Ms Dracoulis could have made her point about transparency without including the comments.

“In using this expression Cr Dracoulis has taken her comment from a robust expression of integrity to one that could raise suspicion in the mind of a reasonable person.”

Mr Derksen claimed Ms Dracoulis’ post breached five other parts of the code, but they were dismissed.

In the end, the council voted it would not sell the buildings to the distillery.

Months on from that decision, Attorney-General Guy Barnett has denied claims he was involved in the approval of a $1.2m government grant to the distillery.

Originally published as Derwent Valley mayor Michelle Dracoulis cautioned over code of conduct breach