OUTSPOKEN Gawler councillor Ian Tooley (pictured) has been spared removal from the chamber by his peers during a fiery meeting last Tuesday.

As reported in The Bunyip last week, Cr Tooley faced being removed from council after he missed three-straight meetings without having a motion to grant leave of absence granted.

The Local Government Act includes a clause where elected members can be removed if they miss three consecutive meetings. There is no requirement for a councillor to be removed if they breach the clause, with the final decision in the chamber’s hands.

After submitting apologies for missing the January and February ordinary council meetings, he submitted a leave motion which was not endorsed by other councillors.

Cr Tooley has been self-isolating with his wife – who has a compromised immune system – since the start of March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before debate started on whether to remove Cr Tooley, he was granted five minutes to make a personal statement where he raised his voice at other elected members, asking them “how do you sleep at night?”.

During his speech, he asked for a doctors letter explaining his family situation and photos of his wife in intensive care in 2019 to be shown on the online meeting’s live stream, but the request was rejected by Mayor Karen Redman.

“It’s bad enough that you (elected members) didn’t grant me leave, but you did it knowing you could remove me,” he said.

“To see some of you sitting back rolling your eyes because you just don’t care, the same just don’t care attitude that wouldn’t grant one of your own leave, this could easily be my last meeting.

“I’m absolutely disgusted that my fellow councillors have no compassion. None of you contacted me when my wife was in hospital.

“You couldn’t grant me leave of absence, even when you knew it could remove me from office. How despicable are you.”

Following the speech, Cr Tooley declared a conflict of interest in the matter, saying “I don’t want to listen to the filthy debate that goes on”.

Despite having grounds to boot the controversial councillor, elected members instead voted to take no action on the Local Government Act breach and for staff to bring back a report on “options available for council to deal with the repeated and sustained behaviour and breaches by Cr Tooley”.

Councillor Diane Fraser, who moved the motion, said Cr Tooley’s missed meetings were less important than “his behaviour towards his peers and the staff of council”.

“Something needs to be done about it. I don’t know that actually removing him from council over non-attendance is as big a problem as what his behaviour is,” she said.

“I could get into a debate over what Cr Tooley has just said, but it’s personal and not needed.”

Councillor Paul Little seconded the motion and said Cr Tooley’s conduct was “not befitting a councillor”.

“He calls it bullying (towards) him. But I believe in my experience he’s just as big a bully as what he says everyone else is,” he said.

“I, like Cr Fraser don’t believe he should be removed at this time, but I think his conduct needs to be looked into.”

Following the debate, Cr Tooley was returned to the meeting and attempted to show the photos Ms Redman had previously denied during his personal statement, before the meeting continued as normal.