DRAMA has occurred in the Port Stephens Council meeting with one Councillor deeming another’s outburst a ‘Labor stunt’.

In the recent meeting via webcast on 14 September, things got heated when Councillor Giacomo Arnott began to express frustrations over the Community Recommendation Survey.

The survey showed that Port Stephens Council’s community satisfaction rating had dipped to 68% in 2021, from 80% in 2020.

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Cr Arnott questioned the validity of the results to the survey, believing that the correct method to evaluate results on a Likert scale is to omit the middle ground in which respondents answered ‘moderately satisfied/ neutral’ as these do not reflect a strong enough option.

These results remained included in the results for the survey, with 49% of the 66% Council satisfaction score being ’Moderately satisfied/ neutral’, followed by 14% of the population answering satisfied and only 3% very satisfied with the elected Council.

Discussing his thoughts on the topic, Councillor Arnott reflected upon the results if the middle ground was taken out, creating a satisfaction score of under 40%.

“We (Port Stephens Council) have failed dismally.

“We’re looking at our lowest community satisfaction score in a decade,” Cr Arnott said.

After stating his position, Cr Arnott wished to ask questions under 9.14 of the Code of Meeting Practice, which states ‘a question must not be asked at a meeting of the Council unless it concerns a matter on the agenda of the meeting’.

“Mayor Palmer, when you completed this survey did you respond saying that you were satisfied with Council’s efforts to maintain roads?” Cr Arnott asked.

Cr Ken Jordan responded with a point of order, drawing attention to a rules violation.

“You can ask the staff for clarification but at no stage do you ever ask another Councillor a question, that is not a part of it.

“This is purely Labor attacking you (Mayor Palmer) leading up to the Mayoral election, so don’t answer his questions.”

“He can ask the staff for clarification if he’s not quite sure about them, or the report or the statistics, not the third degree.

“This could go all night like he does in public access,” Cr Jordan said.

After debate within the Council, Mayor Palmer ruled Cr Arnott’s time up and quoted 9.18 of the Code of Meeting Practice, which states ‘Councillors must put questions, directly, succinctly, respectfully and without argument’.

Cr Arnott was asked to no longer voice his thoughts on the issue.

Throughout the meeting, there was a clear tension amongst Councillors, with Cr Arnott at one point “invited to spend a little time in the Council,” by Mayor Palmer, despite his four-year stint as West-Ward Councillor.

This is not the first time that drama has entailed between Cr Arnott and Mayor Palmer, with an illegal expulsion in a Council meeting in late December 2019.

By Tara CAMPBELL