Sparks fly at Council over radical group grant

The City of Sydney Council meeting on Monday night was enlivened considerably, when Liberal Councillor Shayne Mallard was censured for failing to withdraw a remark that Lord Mayor Clover Moore’s fingerprints were “all over” a proposed $8,000 grant to radical animal rights group Animal Liberation.

A point of order was raised by Cr John McInerney in response to Cr Mallard’s comment. “You can’t just throw a statement down, in front of a public gathering like this, saying the Lord Mayor’s fingerprints are all over this particular [proposal]”, he said. Cr Mallard then clarified his position, responding that Cr Moore’s fingerprints were all over it because she “control[led] Council”.

Cr Moore asked Cr Mallard to withdraw the imputation that she had interfered with the grant assessment process. When he refused, a motion was introduced to censure Cr Mallard.

During the debate, Deputy Lord Mayor Marcelle Hoff said the comments took her back to “thinking about fingerprints, and criminal activity.” However, Greens Councillor Chris Harris said he saw nothing worthy of censure, arguing that his interpretation of Cr Mallard’s comments was that it reflected Ms Moore’s values, thinking and political stance on matters.

Cr Mallard, who described the motion as “offensive”, defended his stance, arguing that Animal Liberation were a radical grassroots movement who advocated breaking the law through direct action. He said they were under investigation by Police in NSW and Queensland for allegedly contaminating kangaroo meat destined for export.

Ms Moore said an arms-length advisory process had been set up, on whose advice Councillors acted.

Along with Cr Mallard, Crs Harris, Irene Doutney and Meredith Burgmann, all spoke against the censure motion. Cr Burgmann cited some similar concerns to Cr Mallard over activities undertaken by Animal Liberation, but along with the rest of Council, did not support Cr Mallard’s proposed amendment to withdraw funding from the group. The censure motion was upheld 6-4 along party lines.