The Local Paper. Inquiry into Whittlesea Council. October 2025

Local News Analysis

Report critical of McLindon, Lloyd and Crs

■ As Cr Aidan McLindon returns to Whittlesea Council this week after a six-month suspension, Local Government Minister Nick Staikos has appointed Steven Kingshott as Municipal Monitor until December next year.

Findings critical of Cr McLindon, Whittlesea CEO Craig Lloyd, and Councillors, were handed down in a Commission of Inquiry report by Prue Digby and Jim Gifford, who recommended a range of reforms to improve governance.

““The events at Whittlesea City Council are serious and culminated in a unanimous vote of no confidence in the Mayor by Whittlesea’s 10 other councillors,” Mr Staikos said.

“It is clear that a municipal monitor is needed to assist the council’s administration.”

“I expect the City of Whittlesea will use this opportunity to rectify the issues raised in the report – to reset and build a good governance framework that better serves ratepayers.”

The Commission’s found that there were several factors that resulted in the Councillors and the CEO taking action against Mr McLindon

“While the Commission has serious concerns about the conduct of Mr McLindon when he was Mayor, there were also shortcomings in the performances of the Councillors, the CEO and Administration, and the Deputy Mayor that contributed to the problems at the Whittlesea City Council.

“Many of the Councillors elected in November 2024 were new and relatively inexperienced.

“While the Induction Program provided for them was extensive, they would have benefited from more time discussing the qualities and attributes they wanted to see in a first term Mayor as well as spending more time on developing effective working relationships.

“The Councillors were divided along political lines when voting for the Mayor and many did not exercise due diligence before deciding to support Mr McLindon as Mayor.

“The Commission recognises that the Deputy Mayor was thrown into a difficult situation with limited experience and support and that she endeavoured to do her best for the Council and community.

“However, when issues arose in respect of Mr McLindon's conduct, more should have been done by Councillors to try and resolve those issues internally and to hold Mr McLindon to account for his

returning to the City of Whittlesea from suspension and will require assistance.

behaviour. This could have included organising appropriate external supports for the CEO and Mr McLindon to assist them in managing their relationship.

“While such efforts may have eventually proven ineffective, they should have been attempted before matters were escalated to external agencies.

“Overall, the Commission found that the Councillors have sought to act responsibly since the election of Mr McLindon as Mayor.

“Circumstances where the Councillors appear to have fallen short appear to be attributable to inexperience, a lack of support and limitations of the legislative framework.

“The Commission recognises that the Councillors will face challenges upon Mr McLindon’s return

“The CEO was proactive in taking measures and actions to ensure that the organisation was responding appropriately to health and safety issues. In attempting to shield the organisation from the impacts of Mr McLindon's behaviour, the CEO may have left himself vulnerable to impacts on his own health and wellbeing.

“The Commission found that Mr McLindon failed in several essential respects to perform the role of a Mayor consistently with the Local Government Act 2020 or in a way that would support the needs of the Council or the community.

“As Mayor, Mr McLindon was required to lead the decision making processes of the Council, including chairing Council meetings.

“He did not perform this role particularly effectively. He did not commit the time and effort needed. He also failed to represent the Council to the community and left Council without an effective voice.

“Mr McLindon’s public utterances, particularly those made during the Werribee by-election, concentrated almost exclusively on his own policies and interests at the expense of the interests and priorities of the Council

“In the role of Mayor, Mr McLindon was required to promote good conduct by the Councillors.

“In fact, he personally demonstrated extremely poor conduct. Many of the comments on social media by Mr McLindon show, at the very least, a disregard for how they affect other people, especially members of the LGBTQIA+ and First Peoples communities.

“This includes requiring that Mr McLindon undertake further training, and that a Municipal Monitor be appointed to provide support to the CEO, the Councillors and Mr McLindon to develop effective working relationships, and to assist Mr McLindon in avoiding any behaviours that may create risks to health and safety.

“The Commission has made a range of recommendations on policy and legislative reforms that may assist in avoiding or minimising situations, such as arose at the Whittlesea City Council, in the future.

“This includes legislative amendments to provide Councillors with more time to consider and elect a candidate for the role of Mayor, and a review of the legislation prescribing the term for Mayors.

“It also includes guidance and amendments to improve training around the role of a Mayor, and provisions in the legislation allowing a Council to remove a Mayor in certain situations.

“The Commission has recommended that the Councillor Conduct Framework be reformed to make it easier for difficulties, like the ones that arose at Whittlesea City Council, to be resolved more effectively in the future.

“The Commission has recommended the establishment of an independent Local Government Integrity Commission, as a single investigatory and disciplinary body to handle all complaints relating to councillor conduct.

“The Commission did not hear any evidence which suggested that the Council is unable to deliver good governance, and it is not of the view that the Council should be dismissed.

“The relationship between the CEO and Mr McLindon broke down very early after the election, and has been a factor in the events that have subsequently unfolded.

“The Commission found that this was mainly due to Mr McLindon either misunderstanding or refusing to perform the role of a Mayor and, at times, role of a Councillor, in accordance with the requirements of the Victorian Local Government system.

“We found that, initially, the CEO’s response to Mr McLindon’s poor performance of his roles as Councillor and Mayor was professional, upholding the demarcation of their roles.

“However, we also found that the CEO was very quick to escalate what he considered were breaches of the LocalGovernmentAct2020 or Model Councillor Code of Conduct to integrity agencies rather than try to resolve them internally and this may have exacerbated rather than calmed internal tensions.

“The relationship between the CEO and Mr McLindon was beset by tension, conflict and a lack of mutual trust from the outset which impacted the health and wellbeing of both parties.

?”They both may have benefited from the engagement of an independent mediator or support person to address their emerging relationship breakdown.

“The Commission is conscious of the difficulties that are likely to arise in the relationship between the CEO and Mr McLindon when Mr McLindon returns from suspension and that this will require particular attention.

“In making unsubstantiated and sometimes bizarre accusations against the Council, the Council Administration and the Victorian Government, Mr McLindon generated misinformation and brought the Council into disrepute.

“Overall Mr McLindon demonstrated a disregard for how his actions reflected on the Council and how they affected other Councillors, Council staff and the community.

“The decision to suspend Mr McLindon from office is expressly excluded from the Commission's Terms of Reference, along with the recommendation made by the Minister in support of that decision.

“The Commission also notes that these decisions are currently being considered by the Supreme Court and is conscious of the need to avoid prejudicing that proceeding.”

★ The Commission delievered a number of recommendations:

“The Commission holds concerns about Mr McLindon’s conduct. It therefore considered whether there are any matters, not considered as part of the original decision to suspend Mr McLindon, which would provide a sufficient basis to recommend that he be suspended for a further period under s 229A of the LocalGovernmentAct2020.

“On the evidence provided to this Inquiry, the Commission is not satisfied that this threshold has been met.

“As things stand, an Internal Arbitration considering whether Mr McLindon breached the Model CouncillorCodeofConductwill resume when Mr McLindon returns to office.

“The Local Government Inspectorate has also received a number of complaints which are awaiting investigation. It is recommended that these processes are followed through to their conclusions as quickly as possible.

“The Commission has made recommendations to deal with difficulties that are likely to arise when Mr McLindon returns from suspension in October 2025.

“The Commission has made its recommendations in the hope that situations such as this can be avoided at Whittlesea and other Councils in future.

“Local Government is an important part of the democratic system in Victoria

“In order for it to function effectively, Mayors and Councillors should perform their roles in the manner required under the Local GovernmentAct2020and in accordance with the Model Councillor CodeofConduct

“Councillors, who are often new to the role, need effective training and guidance.

“When problems arise, Councils should attempt to resolve them internally to the extent reasonably possible.

“For those matters requiring external resolution, there needs to be a centralised integrity agency that is properly resourced and can deal with matters consistently and expeditiously.

“Residents and ratepayers deserve a well functioning local government system, with representatives who are well placed to understand and meet their community's needs and who act with integrity,” the Commission Report said.

No malice: McLindon

■ Cr McLindon responded: “I look forward to working productively with the CEO and my councillor colleagues.

“To the dedicated and hardworking council staff, keep up the great work - you are the unsung heroes that keep it all together, especially when times get tough.

“I hold no malice toward my detractors and I am ready to hop back in the saddle to help fix Victoria from my neck of the woods.

“Politics is a competition of ideas and I have a few more to put on the table yet,” he said.

● ● ● ● Cr Aidan McLindon: