A vote on the Wyndham learning community strategy had to be postponed at Tuesday night’s council meeting due to ongoing conflicts between councillors.
The vote will now be held on April 23 after a series of amendments, alternative motions and angry barbs between councillors, delayed repeated attempts to resolve the matter.
Tensions arose when deputy mayor Josh Gilligan introduced an alternative resolution on the grounds that the strategy placed too much emphasis on Aboriginal education and should therefore be treated as a separate Indigenous learning strategy.
“An education strategy focused on less than 3000 residents in a city over 322,000 reinforces why this strategy is not a strategy for all people in the city of Wyndham,” Cr Gilligan told the chamber.
In response, Councillor Robert Szatkowski, accused the deputy mayor of grandstanding.
“To diminish and denigrate what has been put into the chamber tonight in this way, is pretty appalling.”
Cr Jasmine Hill then spoke to oppose Cr Gilligan’s alternate resolution, but prefaced her comments with a reference to an ongoing disagreement between the pair.
“I want to be honest, I’m nervous because when I express an opinion, I get an allegation. I still have one before VCAT,” said Cr Hill who was last year suspended for four months after being found guilty of bullying council staffers.
Cr Hill then appealed her suspension to VCAT and was reinstated to council pending the outcome.
The original complaint against her was made by Cr Gilligan, who last month criticised his colleagues for welcoming Cr Hill back council, saying he was ‘embarrassed’ to serve alongside them.
Despite opposing Cr Gilligan’s resolution, Cr Hill made similar criticisms about an overemphasis on Indigenous education, before conceding she was speaking to the wrong motion.
After the extended an unruly debate, a frustrated mayor Jennie Barrera spoke on indulgence, pointing out that Indigenous education was only one of four pillars of the learning community strategy.
Cr Gilligan’s motion was lost by four votes to seven, but a
a procedural motion put by the deputy mayor to adjourn the matter to April, was carried by the same margin.
Debate again became ill-tempered at the end of the meeting when Cr Szatkowski moved a motion of Urgent Business to have public consultation on the learning strategy reopened.
After the motion was carried, Cr Hill spoke in favour, arguing that a response of only 12 people during the original consultation period, was nowhere near enough.
In response Cr Mia Shaw noted that learning was within Cr Hill’s portfolio and said it was her responsibility to attract more responses.
“I look forward to, over the next three weeks, seeing you out and about promoting this strategy and trying to get more feedback because I would suggest that is part of your role as well.”
“Point of order, point of order,” Cr Hill responded angrily, as mayor Barrera tried to get her to nominate which one.
“54.3” said Cr Hill before launching into her defense.
“Cr Shaw has been acting consistently disrespectfully towards me for the past three and a half years,” was as far as she got before Cr Barrera cut her off.
“That is not a point of order tonight,” said the mayor raising her voice.
Cr Szatkowski’s motion was then lost and the meeting closed.
