A Bendigo councillor says she is astounded by the “conspiracy theories” and “fake news” circulating the community in recent weeks, which have acted as a backdrop to important decisions made by the council.
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Yvonne Wrigglesworth said the plain mistruths and drama was “sweeping up very vulnerable populations who need solid leadership”.
“The fake news that has been levelled in these important discussions is astounding,” she said.
“I worry for our future generations if this is the way councillors are expected to make decisions.”
Cr Wrigglesworth said her comments did not relate directly to the vote to forcibly purchase land off the Carter family, but added that decision was a “massive one to have to make, and not one that was made lightly”.
“We have to make decisions for the greater municipality….this is the piece of a greater puzzle,” she said.
“I didn't put my hand up to win another term on council, I put my hand up to do the best job I could do in this term.”
Reacting to the revelation fellow councillor Julie Hoskin attended an anti-council meeting last month, where a group of residents resolved to challenge the validity of the current council and attempt to charge the chief executive officer with treason, Cr Wrigglesworth said: “It reads out of a novel...it’s disappointing to hear.”
“It’s a sad day in society if those sort of things are levelled at our community, suggesting that our council is not in place to make decisions,” the Eppalock Ward councillor said on Friday.
Mayor Margaret O’Rourke confirmed the council was seeking legal advice after receiving two threatening letters this month.
One letter, seen by the Bendigo Advertiser, references a meeting in March of 60 “concerned subjects of the Queen”, during which, the letter claims, common law grand jury indictments were issued to council CEO Craig Niemann, Supreme Court justice Jack Forest and former High Court justice Kenneth Hayne.
A second letter was received by council from the Carter family earlier this week.
Mayor Margaret O’Rourke said the letter claimed councillors could not vote on whether to place a public acquisition overlay on the Carters’ property, because the Victorian Constitution did not receive royal assent, thus making their election in 2016 invalid.
Councillor O’Rourke said the argument echoed the case of Paul Rutledge vs the State of Victoria in the High Court 2013, which was rejected by former justice Kenneth Hayne.
A Bendigo lawyer suggested there was no legal grounds for either of the groups’ claims.