A string of comments made by City of Newcastle Councillor Allan Robinson has been made public, leading to his exit from the Independent team and Labor’s call for Robinson and Independent Lord Mayoral candidate John Church to resign.
A report on the October 2020 investigation into Robinson’s conduct has finally been released under the Government Information (Public Access) Act (GIPA).
The report reveals complaints of Cr Robinson’s conduct dating back to July 2019.
The independent investigation into Code of Conduct complaints exposed a series of comments made by Ward 4 Councillor Robinson towards fellow councillors.
Labor councillors questioned the report’s delayed release.
“Despite legal advice recommending the proactive release of the report under GIPA, Councillor John Church repeatedly moved to suppress the release of the report,” the Labor statement read.
“The report exposes the weakness in the NSW Code of Conduct for local councillors.
“The only recommendation from the independent investigation is a vote of condemnation by his fellow councillors and referral to the Office of Local Government (OLG).”
Responding to the report’s release, Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said she had been subjected to “disgusting and abhorrent misogyny and sexism” over the past nine years from Cr Robinson, which affected her and her family.
Comments posted on Cr Nelmes’ Facebook page reflected constituents’ outrage over Robinson’s alleged behaviour and his Independent backing.
The first openly gay councillor elected in Newcastle, Deputy Lord Mayor Declan Clausen, told NovoNews that “the homophobic abuse” he had received from Cr Robinson was “unrelenting”.
Cr Robinson was forced to publicly apologise to Cr Clausen in 2020 after an NSW Anti-Discrimination Board process confirmed he had “used language and actions in formal council meetings and in the media that were homophobic, discriminatory and disrespectful”.
“I can’t think of any other workplace in the country where this kind of conduct and behaviour is acceptable and that he still continues to get away with it,” Cr Clausen said.
Cr Clausen said he and seven other Labor Councillors had called for the resignation of Cr Robinson.
They also called for Lord Mayoral candidate and Councillor John Church’s resignation after he failed to act despite having “repeated opportunities” to call out Cr Robinson’s alleged behaviour.
“The release of this report isn’t a surprise to anyone on the council,” Cr Clausen said.
“We have had access to this report for seven months, and Church has obviously been aware of Robinson’s conduct for a lot longer than that.
“Given how long this has gone on for, the only way to seek some resolution is for the community to see exactly what is going on with their elected officials. Making the report available is part of ensuring that there is justice to this process.”
Cr Church told NovoNews that Cr Robinson had left the Newcastle Independents team, and the team would soon announce a replacement Ward 4 candidate.
“My view is, as a council, we need to improve the tone and quality of the debate,” Cr Church said, declining to comment on Labor’s calls for his own resignation.
Cr Robinson told ABC News he would “continue to hold Labor councillors to account” and intended to run in the next election as a “rogue independent”.
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