ZAIDA GLIBANOVIC
By ZAIDA GLIBANOVIC
LATROBE City Councillor Melissa Ferguson was required to apologise at the council meeting last Monday, after an arbitration report found her online behaviour ‘discriminatory’ and in breach of the councillor code of conduct. Cr Ferguson’s Twitter (now known as X) actions in April earlier this year were found as misconduct in regard to specific clauses of the Local Government (Governance and Integrity) Regulations 2020. Councillor Tracie Lund applied for the arbitration pursuit against Cr Ferguson in early June and an independent arbiter in Dr Meredith Gibbs was assigned to the case. Cr Lund took to Facebook to say, “As an elected representative, my commitment to accountability, transparency, and calling out unprofessional and discriminatory behaviour is unwavering.”“As a councillor and as a human, I will never be a passive bystander to such behaviour. It is my sincere hope that this finding raises the bar on expectations for the behaviour and conduct of those entrusted with the privilege of public office.” The Arbiter found that Cr Ferguson’s “Twitter activity is discriminatory and is not action that supports the elimination of discrimination based on gender identity.” To the Express‘ understanding this is the first time such a finding has been made against a Victorian Councillor. The Arbiter further found that the sentiments expressed by Cr Ferguson over twitter “to be offensive and disrespectful of trans people in the sense that a trans person would reasonably find this characterisation of trans people as offensive and disrespectful.”Cr Ferguson received extensive backlash from the LGBTQI+ community for her twitter posts earlier this year with the Gippsland Pride Initiative labelling them as “reprehensible, harmful, hatefully ignorant and worse still, factually incorrect.” These include retweets of divisive feminist activists Rachael Wong and Angela Jones that the arbiters report stated “did not treat members of the public with dignity, fairness, courtesy and respect”. Three posts on Cr Ferguson’s Twitter page were under review. Tweet one was a re-tweet by the account “Cr Melissa Ferguson” of a tweet by “Gays Against Groomers”, the tweet read as follows: “Predators are hiding behind the rainbow and using it as a shield to prey on children. Our organization will not allow our community to be scapegoats for this perversion and abuse any longer.” The second piece of evidence was a tweet by “Cr Melissa Ferguson,” which Cr Lund submitted was offensive to trans children by likening them to a “gender bender” and also offensive to those responsible for workplace training or other similar programs. “Expression of these opinions do not support the council in fulfilling its obligation to achieve and promote gender equality, nor is it consistent with a Councillor’s obligation to consider and be responsive to the diversity of interests and needs of the municipal community. In addition, it is behaviour that brings discredit upon the Council,” the arbiter wrote. In her defence, Cr Ferguson said she could not be held responsible for any re-tweets investigated, but the arbiter disagreed in this context. The arbiter found that the retweeting of the tweets made “an implicit endorsement of approval of its contents.” Though councillors can express independent views through the media, the arbiter said unofficial personal comments must be made clear and separate from the council. In Cr Ferguson’s case, it was found around 20 tweets with her ‘personal views’ were posted using the account name “Cr Melissa Ferguson”, with some reference to Latrobe City Council in her account information. Therefore, the arbiter found Cr Ferguson in breach of council conduct as she had posted in the role of councillor. Despite, Cr Ferguson’s twitter name change and bio disclaimer that all tweets are her own opinion, the arbiter found that this further created “ambiguity about the role in which (Cr Ferguson) was acting.” Along side a spoken and written apology Cr Ferguson has also been directed to attend diveristy, equality and inclusion training with particular reference to the LGBTIQA+ community. The arbiter stated that failing to comply with these directions would be a serious misconduct. Cr Ferguson must also undergo further training on the appropriate use of social media (which it was recommended that all Councillors attend). Though the arbitration report was tabled at the council meeting last Monday night, the apology required as a sanction from Cr Ferguson may not have been perceived as a sincere apology. “I’m abstaining as I’m just doing what I’ve been dictated to do,” Cr Ferguson said in regard to the motion tabling the report at the meeting. Cr Ferguson opted to apologise by reading the arbiter’s report sanctions verbatim. “As stated in the arbiter’s findings, In each case, the apology must be unreserved and reference that Cr Ferguson has engaged in misconduct by breaching the standards of conduct in clauses 1(a), 1(b), 1(d), 2(d) and 4(1) of Schedule 1 of the Local Government (Governance and Integrity) Regulations 2020 through her tweets about the LGBTIQA+ community,” Ferguson read to council. Though the arbitration has been conducted, formal processes may continue as Cr Ferguson pursues legal advice on the ordeal. “I’d like to state clearly that I am considering my legal options surrounding appealing the arbiter’s findings and consider all my rights accordingly,” she said. Many supporters of Cr Feguson have been actively condemning the arbiters report on twitter, with even Moira Deeming, the divisive Victorian Liberal member, taking to twitter to defend Cr Ferguson. “(Cr Ferguson) has refused to degrade herself by apologising for posting her reasonable beliefs on Twitter,” she said. “A kangaroo council arbitration court had declared her guilty of making “offensive” social media posts, then ordered her to acknowledge guilt and apologise. “This is an outrageous assault on our constitutional right to political communication and freedom of speech and conscience.”
