By PEACE IJIYERA
NEW Latrobe City councillor Rob Moffat has already experienced the brutal game of politics.
Barely a month into his role representing Morwell River Ward, he found himself unwittingly at the centre of unwanted attention at last week’s council meeting.
During the September council meeting (held Monday, September 28), a motion was put through to vote on an item (11.1) relating to the 2025/26 End of Year Results and Accumulated Cash Surplus.
Putting the motion to a vote, a disagreement ensued when it appeared that Cr Adele Pugsley (Moe Ward), sitting next to Cr Moffatt, whispered to him, resulting in him dropping his hand and changing his vote.
Yallourn Ward councillor Steph Morgan immediately called a point of order.
“Cr Moffatt has his hand up to vote and then was just spoken to and it looked as though he was forced into lowering his hand,” Cr Morgan said.
Mayor Sharon Gibson explained that she had not counted the vote up to where Mr Moffatt was seated.
“I hadn’t got to Councillor Moffatt and it is up to him how he votes … when I got to him, he did not have his hand up,” Mayor Gibson asserted.
Cr Morgan shook her head in disbelief and turned of her microphone. Cr Leanne Potter (Jeeralang Ward) raised her hand to also issue a point of order and code of conduct due to “interference with another councillor at a vote.”
Mayor Gibson maintained that she “did not see” the action as she was “counting the vote”.
“If a councillor wishes to talk to another councillor … it happens all the time,” the mayor said. To which Cr Potter questioned, “During a vote?”
Mayor Gibson doubled down, saying, “it happens all the time”.
“I’ve had it many time happen to me … they’ve been talking to me. So, sorry, I will … dismiss that point of order,” Mayor Gibson said.
Speaking with the Express, Cr Morgan said she was “frustrated and shocked” to see what she “perceived as trying to influence someone’s vote”.
“If someone’s hand is up and has been while the votes being counted and all of a sudden it’s not, it just doesn’t feel right to me,” she said.
“People have elected us into these positions to make decisions for our community, for the future. And if we’re not … following those rules and guidelines, then it kind of falls apart a bit.
“We’ve got these things like points of order to rein us back in and … just check each other and be accountable. It’s important to use those especially … calling out behaviour that may not be aligning with those rules, just so we are making the best decisions we can and doing it in the right way.”
Not one to back away from ensuring protocol is followed, Cr Morgan said she is “happy to call out behaviour I don’t think is right in the future.”
Cr Moffatt explained that he turned to Cr Pugsley first to simply gain clarification on the matter.
“I wasn’t quite sure on one of the issues … and I had turned around to [the] councillor beside me and just wanted to verify something,” Morwell Ward Councillor Rob Moffat said, after last week’s controversial Latrobe City Council meeting.
He explained that one of the allocations of $250,000 for the Community Connectors Program hadn’t been matched by the state government, and he was clarifying that with Cr Pugsley because of talks of an alternate motion.
“The reason that I changed on it was because $250,000 wasn’t going to do what we needed to get the job done”, he said. The job referring to the services needed to support vulnerable individuals at train stations.
“We didn’t want a band-aid job,” he said.
“I know it probably didn’t look good that I decided at the last minute once I verified with the councillor beside me what it actually meant.
“I could’ve … kept faith and just went ahead with it, which wouldn’t have made it an issue.”
Cr Moffatt explained that he wouldn’t have been pleased if the vote went through, as he believes more investment needs to be made towards the program.
While it appeared as though Moe Ward Cr Adele Pugsley influenced Cr Moffatt’s vote, Cr Pugsley does not believe so.
She claimed she said around two words to Cr Moffatt, which she doesn’t believe is “enough to sway anybody’s opinion”.
“Councillor Moffatt turned to me because I believe he may have been confused which item we were actually voting on,” she said, explaining that alternate motions and foreshadowed motions can be complicated.
Cr Pugsley supported how Mayor Sharon Gibson handled the situation.
“At the end of the day, until she’s (Mayor Gibson) called that councillor and noted down their vote … whoever it is can change their vote at any time.”
Cr Pugsley maintains that she only wants what is best for the community, echoing Cr Moffatt’s sentiment of allocating sufficient funds that will benefit the community.
Latrobe City Council provided a benign statement to the Express:
“Council acknowledges the matters observed during consideration of Item 11.1 at the Ordinary Council Meeting on September 28, 2026.”
“The mayor conducted the vote on the matter in accordance with the governance rules and the motion in relation to Item 11.1 was carried.
“During that item one point of order was formulated appropriately and it was ruled invalid by the mayor.”
