Ordinarily the last Port Stephens Council meeting for the year is one full of Christmas cheer and goodwill. But this is no ordinary council and last Tuesday night's meeting lacked the festive spirit.
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In fact, police from nearby Raymond Terrace had to be called to the council chambers to escort Labor councillor Giacomo Arnott from the building in an incident described by mayor Ryan Palmer as "regrettable" and by Cr Arnott "as concerning".
Cr Arnott's expulsion for "disorderly conduct" had followed a verbal stoush with Cr Palmer, which was recorded on the council's webcast.
Councillors Arnott and Palmer - who are both serving their first terms on council - have a history of confrontation and disagreement over policy. There had been threats of expulsion at previous meetings.
The catalyst for last Tuesday's verbal exchange concerned the matter of who had seconded a notice of motion on a roads issue.
According to a council spokesperson, the motion was seconded by Cr Chris Doohan.
"Cr Arnott stood and put a point of order that he wished to second the motion, which he indicated by turning on his microphone. Mayor Palmer ruled that the seconder was Cr Doohan," the spokesperson said.
"Cr Arnott argued against the ruling.
"As a result, a motion was put by mayor Palmer to have Cr Arnott expelled from the meeting for acts of disorder.
"The motion to expel was carried and when Cr Arnott refused to leave the governance manager was required to call the police to escort Cr Arnott out of the chamber."
Mayor Palmer told the Examiner "as a council we must hold our meetings to the highest standard possible to make the best decisions possible".
"It is regrettable that Cr Arnott over a long period of time has chosen not to adhere to these standards after numerous warnings," he said.
"Cr Arnott chose to not adhere to our code of meeting practice after the council voted to have him removed for the rest of the meeting due to continued disorderly conduct, and then chose to be removed by the police."
Mayor Palmer said that police were called after Cr Arnott refused to leave the chamber.
Cr Arnott said after the meeting that he had been expelled from the council chamber for "rolling my eyes".
"If he wants to call the police on everyone who rolls their eyes at him, perhaps politics isn't his best career choice."
He said that the law was clear when it came to expelling councillors from council meetings.
"This is an extremely serious action to take. I hope that the Minister intervenes and makes clear to the mayor and this council that they can't just remove people from a chamber for practically no reason, and possibly in contravention of the law," he said.
"Preventing me from talking and voting on another seven agenda items has deprived this council of genuine debate and my community's concerns and input."
The seconder to the expulsion motion, Cr Paul Le Mottee, said the governance officer had been left with no choice but to call police because "Cr Arnott said he was refusing to leave until the police came".
"The code of meeting practice dictates that when anyone is expelled, whether they be a member of the public, a council officer or a councillor they must leave immediately and, if they don't, the police are called. I do not know why anyone would think that Cr Arnott should receive any special treatment for breaking the very code of meeting practice that he earlier was claiming to try and make better."
