Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery says she is seeking legal advice on defamation action after she was targeted in a motion to investigate links between the City of Newcastle CEO and a Newcastle Herald letter writer.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The elected council agreed on five points in a motion raised by Labor councillor Carol Duncan at the July 25 council meeting.
The unanimously-agreed points involved noting media reports around CEO Jeremy Bath's connections to long-term Herald letter to the editor writer Scott Neylon and supporting an investigation by an independent conduct reviewer.
However Greens, Liberal and Independent councillors did not support several points of the motion which took aim at Ms Hornery. The points were passed by the Labor majority.
Ms Hornery, a recent subject of Mr Neylon's letters, asked the Minister for Local Government to investigate, and the Office of Local Government later said the minister would direct the lord mayor to conduct an investigation.
The motion said Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery was the "investigations' most prominent public supporter... who has waged a campaign against councillors via the media for nearly a year now".
It said the scope of the investigation should examine "how confidential electoral roll details about council staff and their friends and family came into the possession of journalists" and noted "this has occurred previously under the direction of" Ms Hornery.
The Newcastle Herald has not accessed the electoral roll from any MP office, via any MPs or their staff members for the purposes of this investigation.
Ms Hornery says she held "deep concerns that what should have been a motion investigating the potential for the CEO breaching code of conduct has devolved into a baseless attack on me".
"Equally disturbing is that a CoN code of conduct investigation is set to be looking into my actions, given that I am not an employee of council," she said.
"I am concerned and disappointed that councillors Duncan and Nelmes made untrue and potentially defamatory comments.
"Consequently, I will be seeking legal advice on defamation action in relation to the comments by the above-mentioned councillors.
"I welcome a retraction and apology of the untrue claims by the above-named councillors and ultimately look forward to the outcome of an independent investigation into Mr Bath and Mr Neylon."
Liberal councillor Callum Pull moved to vote on the 10 items separately, saying he was "not comfortable supporting the motion in its entirety".
"I think it unnecessarily conflates a couple of different issues," he said.
Greens councillor Charlotte McCabe said the motion made "some really serious claims about a member of parliament and we don't have any proof of those claims".
"I don't understand why this had to happen in the chamber tonight," she said.
"I feel that councillors are treating this serious and sensitive issue without a level of professionalism that I really did expect from everybody in this room."
Greens councillor John Mackenzie said it was inappropriate for the council to pre-judge or make recommendations about the scope of the investigation by calling on it to include certain things.
"It compromises the independence of that review process," he said.
"I fundamentally support any methods that we can undertake to uphold the integrity of our code of conduct.
"But what I can't support is attempts to use that as a platform to engage in other activities in addition to that process, that completely muddy the water."
Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said she took the motion as "broadening the scope" of the investigation.
"We have had a situation where staff members', family members' personal details have been shared in the media," Cr Nelmes said.
"Whichever way you would sit on interpreting those facts, it's still not a situation that provides a safe working environment."
The Herald has not published suburbs nor addresses of anyone for the purposes of this investigation, with the exception of the numerous suburbs Mr Neylon provided in his letters to the editor.
Deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen said an independent code of conduct reviewer "only considers the matters that are put before them in the code of conduct complaint".
"They don't set their own scope," he said.
Cr Nelmes said the situation had been "forced upon" the council.
"By local members of parliament, a request that I'm yet to receive from the minister, an ongoing media campaign and obviously our duty of care to staff members but also for the integrity of council processes," she said.
"We also have expectations not only around the behaviour of our staff but we also have expectations around the behaviour of MPs."
The lord mayor said the City of Newcastle had "great employees".
"They do a wonderful job for our city day in and day out," she said. "And I don't think any of them are interested in dirty Macquarie Street style politics.
"Because I can tell you now I have zero interest in it.
"I wish that none of it had occurred and we were not here discussing this this evening.
"It is completely unnecessary and a complete distraction from getting on with the job of delivering for Newcastle."
The Minister for Local Government, Ron Hoenig, said he was "pleased the council has confirmed it will be investigating the allegations concerning the CEO".
"Any other matters included in Newcastle City's motion are for the council to consider, and I trust councillors are using their time and resources in the best interests of ratepayers," he said.
IN THE NEWS:
Sage Swinton
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
