Councillor accused of making ‘fisticuff’ threats towards another councillor

Despite deciding to stay, halfway through the debate he stood up and walked out. He returned to his seat minutes later.

The discussion was to follow up on a motion passed at the February meeting that said Cr Weyrich either needed to resign or apologise.

Cr Neil Gorey was among the councillors who used the opportunity to raise concerns about Cr Weyrich’s past behaviour.

“As a member of this council, I’ll refer back to ... some very robust debate about the CEO’s house ... last year,” Cr Gorey said.

“I was thinking I was well within my rights to request that a certain amount of that money stay in Moulamein ... but you got fairly angry over that, Cr Weyrich.

“When someone asked you at the end of the meeting if you will be attending the function that night, Cr Weyrich, your response was, ‘oh no, I won’t. There could be fisticuffs there tonight’.

“You said that just as you were walking past. Was that a threat? What was it?

“You were there even though you said you wouldn’t be because of fisticuffs. You were there, and that was a real threat, Cr Weyrich. You have made many of those threats over the years.”

In November 2022, Cr Weyrich pleaded guilty in Moama Local Court to a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm after he was accused of repeatedly striking a man at a Moama car wash.

Cr Weyrich was convicted, fined $1000 and ordered to serve a 12-month community corrections order, but later had the conviction overturned on appeal.

The overall cost of excessive use of the councillor complaints system under the NSW Government’s Councillor Misconduct Framework was a concern of Cr Geoff Wise.

“One year, I remember it was $80,000 (spent on the complaints system) ... and you (Cr Weyrich) would’ve been involved in 60 per cent of those claims,” he said.

“That really irks me. It’s bad for the council itself. It’s very hard to conduct business when you’ve got that sort of angst going on.”

Allegations about Cr Weyrich’s behaviour towards council staff were also aired during the debate.

“Your confrontations with staff and those types of behaviours, you see as being passionate, that is not passion,” Cr Gorey said.

“I call it thuggery or bullying and harassment, but it certainly could never be described as passion. You've got to have compassion to give passion.”

Cr Nikki Cohen said she was displeased the issue was being raised during a council meeting.

“I personally would like to have seen this being discussed as a group of adults sitting down together and working out what the issues were,” she said.

“I think doing this in a public space is probably not the right way to go. I don’t think it’s great publicity for being a councillor.”

Cr Ann Crowe also raised concerns about her colleague’s apparent habit of speaking to the media.

“We have no trust as a group because often there's been nothing which is confidential because Cr Weyrich goes straight to the media, even though the CEO and the mayor are the only people that are allowed to speak on matters without a delegation,” she said.

Towards the end of the debate, Cr Weyrich revealed he had sought legal advice regarding the motion pertaining to him.

“I do not have to do training. I do not have to apologise, and I certainly do not have to resign,” he said.

“That’s been confirmed by NSW Office of Local Government and my lawyers.”