Hawkesbury City Council is taking a stand against bullying and discrimination in the community following numerous concerning incidents targeting Council staff, Councillors, residents and visitors to our City.
Council is particularly concerned about bullying, sexism and racism sparked and perpetuated online and in-print by a publication in the Hawkesbury community. A number of recent articles and social media posts have targeted Council employees and elected officials, with a pattern of personal, unprovoked and unfounded attacks against women and people of diverse nationalities, with social media comments escalating the rhetoric left unmoderated.
Council has a strict policy of deleting all bullying and discriminatory social media comments on its platforms in line with its Media Policy, and in extreme circumstances, blocking profiles of those who make such comments.
Council staff were also forced to take action at a major event earlier this year to expel an organisation which had attended without permission and was handing out threatening and racist flyers to visitors.
This week, Mayor Les Sheather joined with Deputy Mayor Sarah McMahon and Councillors Amanda Kotlash, Mary Lyons-Buckett, Jill Reardon, Peter Ryan, Paul Veigel, Danielle Wheeler and Nathan Zamprogno to declare that racism, sexism and bullying will not be tolerated in the Hawkesbury community.
Speaking on behalf of the aforementioned Councillors, Mayor Sheather said: "Hawkesbury City Council is an equal-opportunity employer which seeks to employ the best staff possible, regardless of race, gender, age or physical ability.
"This is the vision we have for the entire Hawkesbury – an accepting and tolerant community working hand in hand for a better tomorrow for everyone.
"There is no room in our City for bullying of any kind. We will not tolerate anyone being targeted or disadvantaged on the basis of their ethnicity, gender or physical ability. Enough is enough.
"Council welcomes respectful dialogue and criticism from our community. It is part of our job and respectful and robust discussions help shape our community into one that is loved by all. However, all too often, Council staff and our elected officials are subjected to vile personal attacks from members in our community, including those who claim to be spokespeople for our residents. This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated."
In such circumstances, Council reserves the right to pursue such matters through the available and appropriate legal channels to protect its staff. Council will also shortly commence work on an Anti-Racism Strategy to tackle racism in the Hawkesbury community.
"Discrimination and bullying affect us all. It makes our City less appealing to visitors and potential employees, robbing us all of the wonderful and diverse skills and insights we all can bring to the table, making our City poorer culturally and economically," Mayor Sheather said.
