Andrew Thaler has previously run as a candidate for the seat of Eden-Monaro. Photo: Claire Fenwicke.
Councillor Andrew Thaler has failed in his attempt to block his second suspension from Snowy Monaro Regional Council while he starts the process to appeal the decision, but that hasn’t stopped him from starting a bid to become an MP on the NSW South Coast.
In July, he was handed a three-month suspension from council for the second time this year, again over comments he made on social media.
The NSW Office of Local Government said he indicated he thought some of his misconduct was “very funny” and he “enjoyed it”.
Cr Thaler tried to appeal his first suspension earlier this year, but lost. He tried to stay the second suspension in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), which means temporarily blocking the order while an appeal took place, but on Wednesday (20 August) it was announced this, too, failed.
Senior member Sigrid Higgins said Cr Thaler did not dispute making the comments on social media that saw him suspended.
“He asserted that he is a communicator and an effective member of the council. He said a lot of demands were made on him to make videos, which he finds easy to do,” she said.
She said among Cr Thaler’s numerous claims, he argued his suspension was a false disciplinary action based on an ongoing agenda to have him removed as a councillor.
Cr Thaler claimed there was no Office of Local Government as it was abolished by the NSW Governor in 2019 and said those who voted for him in last year’s local government elections would suffer a detriment as he would be unable to represent them at council meetings while suspended.
NSW Electoral Commission data shows Cr Thaler received 111 first preference votes in the 2024 election, or 0.96 per cent of formal votes.
“In this case, there is no evidence of any specific interests of those who voted for Cr Thaler being disadvantaged if a stay is not granted,” senior member Higgins said.
She said Cr Thaler had not indicated he would stop engaging in the sort of conduct that saw him suspended if a stay were to be granted.
“On the contrary, Cr Thaler appears to believe that the conduct of posting and uploading on social media comments of the kind he made that were specifically directed towards councillors and ratepayers is acceptable, and in his appeal, it is the findings of misconduct that he challenges,” she said.
“I make no findings in this regard as this is a matter for determination in his substantive appeal.”
She did say her preliminary view was that his grounds of appeal were not strong.
The senior member refused his stay application, noting the need to protect the interests of councillors and ratepayers.
Afterwards, Cr Thaler thanked NCAT for considering his stay application while also announcing he would run in the byelection for the NSW seat of Kiama, which is vacant after previous MP Gareth Ward resigned following his convictions for sexual abuse.
“I remain resolute that the Office of Local Government does not have any power, and certainly should not be pretending that they do,” Cr Thaler said.
“In life, you generally don’t win or lose: you win or you learn.
“I look forward to running in the Kiama byelection with an increased public profile.”
The byelection will be held on 13 September.
Cr Thaler’s appeal to his second suspension has been listed for 2 October.
Original Article published by Albert McKnight on About Regional.
