The City of Melville council has backed calls for Western Australia to reform its defamation laws, while voting to curtail debate amid concerns that the discussion could damage the council’s reputation.
Councillors voted 10-3 on October 20 to support Cr Scott Green’s proposal urging the State Government to amend the Defamation Act 2005 (WA) and seek backing from the WA Local Government Association.
The proposal calls for WA to adopt changes to Australian defamation law approved by the Council of Attorneys-General in 2020, including a “serious harm test”.
Cr Green said the absence of serious harm provisions in WA was restricting free speech and could lead to “excessive, avoidable or otherwise inappropriate litigation”.
“Elected members, city staff and members of the public are becoming increasingly reluctant to speak out on matters of public interest for fear of being drawn into expensive defamation proceedings,” he said.
Defamation debate curtailed
The council’s decision followed two failed attempts to avoid considering the motion. Deputy mayor Matthew Woodall’s proposal to defer the matter until November 2027 was defeated by six votes to seven.
Cr Woodall later moved for the council to proceed to the next agenda item without making a decision, which would have prevented the issue returning for at least three months. That motion also failed by six votes to seven.
He said the council’s reputation could be affected “if there are media articles reporting what was said in the debate”.
“My view is it would be much better not to continue this debate and not to deal with this item at all,” Cr Woodall said.
Cr Glynis Barber then moved for the motion to be put to a vote immediately, bringing the discussion to an end. The move was carried 11-2.
“Debate could turn out to be unfavorable and so therefore I think it would be in the best interest that we just put this motion and vote on it now,” she said.
The issue was also opposed by Cr Clive Ross, who said Cr Green’s proposal was “objectionable on several grounds”, including the circumstances in which it had been brought forward and whether it was a local government matter.
It was revealed last year that Cr Green was being sued for defamation by Cr Ross. In August, Cr Green said on social media that he had settled a defamation matter and issued an apology, while stating that his push for changes to WA law was a separate issue.
Cr Ross said Cr Green had “only recently apologised for, and retracted, defamatory statements made against another elected member”. He also said Cr Green had been able to apologise and retract the statements without prolonging the matter through a legal defence funded by ratepayer-funded insurance.
Mayor Katy Mair interrupted Cr Ross and invited director of legal, governance and risk Mustafa Yildiz to speak. Mr Yildiz said the previous proceedings were not relevant to the motion.
Cr Ross declined to withdraw his remark, referring to a Facebook post he said linked the two issues, but Cr Mair told councillors: “We just want to talk about the motion that we have at hand. Not Facebook posts, just what we have in front of us.”
Cr Green said he had made the reasons for his proposal “very clear” and that it was not unusual for the City of Melville to advocate on issues outside its direct remit.
