Launceston community call out mayor and councillors over Radke debacle in latest council meeting

The photo debacle for Launceston’s Mayor Matthew Garwood continues on, with two fiery speakers at the latest council meeting adding fuel to the fire of those calling for his resignation.

Launceston Mayor Matthew Garwood. The Mercury Bush Summit in Launceston. Picture: Rob Burnett

Launceston council can’t seem to shake the recent events of a controversial photo mayor Matthew Garwood posted on his social media.

In March after Mr Garwood posted a photo of himself and musician Ronnie Radke at a meet and greet, some councillors were approached by media and stated their concerns about the image of the mayor standing with a man with a violent criminal history.

Once this story reached Mr Radke, he made online threats to two councillors and the council’s CEO, calling on people to bully them. He posted their contact details.

A slew of online threats including death threats were then sent to not only those councillors and the CEO, but also to Mr Garwood.

Much like the division in the community, there were two public speakers at the council meeting on Thursday – one speaking against Mr Garwood and the other supporting him.

Gwen Espie asked the mayor three questions which she asked to be answered now rather than put on notice.

Ms Espie started by saying “Australia wasn’t a safe place for women”.

“We’re not safe on the streets, we’re not safe in our own homes very often and now we’re not safe online,” she said.

Ms Espie said the matter from the mayor’s “fan-boying” over Mr Radke wasn’t going away.

Launceston mayor Matthew Garwood with Ronnie Radke. Picture: Facebook

“It can’t and won’t until there is some true leadership undertaken,” she said.

“I, and many, many people, women and men in this community have been concerned and I would say appalled, over lack of male leadership in this matter that has come from the council, specifically you [Mr Garwood].”

Ms Espie asked why Mr Garwood shared the petition calling for councillors who supported the no-confidence motion against him should stand down.

“If you didn’t agree with the petition, why did you post the link in that story? Why didn’t you make a public stand and say you didn’t agree and call for people not to sign it?”, she asked.

Ms Espie said it was a “cynical attempt” to stop further action to call out Mr Garwood’s behaviour in the future.

It appeared the mayor was getting annoyed, speaking more sharply.

Mr Garwood said it was an opportunity to “take ownership” of the matter.

“It’s not a private page, it’s a personal page,” he said.

“It’s my personal page and I’ll continue to use it to share parts of this community, to share parts of my life.”

Launceston community member Gwen Espie calls for strong male leadership on gendered violence at council meeting. Picture: Alison Foletta

The second speaker relating to Mr Garwood was Claire Richardson, who started the online petition, which has 6600 signatures.

Ms Richardson said she believed the matter wasn’t violence against women but rather “trolled online.”

She said they “put themselves in the line of fire”, with the result now “bullying” against Mr Garwood.

“I, for one, am sick to death of it,” Ms Richardson said.

She wanted the focus to shift on action for violence against women.

“Launceston could be leading by example,” Ms Richardson said.

Ms Richardson asked if people, including the two councillors, would take responsibility and make a public apology, or “honour” the petition and stand down.

Mr Garwood said he’d take the questions on notice.

The council’s agenda documents included questions asked at the previous council meeting.

One was “Are you going to stop using your mayoral card for mic drop moments for personal gratification”, the response was a brief “yes.”