Protesters interrupted a meeting of Hume City councillors on Monday (29 April) with one lady heard to shout “shame on you” from the public gallery.
The protest happened as Cllr Jarrod Bell congratulated those who organised last Thursday’s Anzac Day services in Sunbury. As the disturbance grew, mayor Naim Kurt called for calm.
Despite this, some in the gallery continued making a noise with one heard to shout: “Shame on you all, you represent the people who live here, it’s about time you…” at which moment council turned off its microphones – preventing those watching online from hearing the rest of the protest.
Council also switched off cameras to show a message saying the meeting had been adjourned, again preventing those watching online from seeing what happened next.
After about 10 minutes sound and vision were restored and the meeting resumed with no explanation to viewers.
Sunbury Life says that for the sake of transparency, audio and cameras should never be switched off at any time during a council meeting. The point of televising council meetings is to give those who cannot attend in person the same experience as those in the room.
