FRANKSTON councillors have called for acting mayor Liam Hughes to resign amid what they call a “leadership crisis”.
With mayor Nathan Conroy on leave contesting the Dunkley by-election for the Liberals, deputy mayor Liam Hughes has been appointed the acting mayor. Hughes has been overseas, leaving Frankston Council without a present leader.
Last week, a majority of Frankston councillors passed a no confidence motion against Hughes demanding he step down to allow someone else to fulfill the mayoral responsibilities. Hughes contacted councillors soon afterwards informing them he would not be standing down and would be returning to the deputy mayor role in early February, The Times understands.
Councillors told the 29 January meeting, which Hughes did not attend, that the acting mayor was not responding to emails and had failed to attend meetings remotely despite saying he would do so. Councillor Sue Baker, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor in November, said Frankston Council has “a leadership problem – a leadership crisis I’d go as far to say – which is leading to a governance crisis.”
“We actually have no certainty about whether councillor Hughes is returning, or when he is returning, or where he is,” Baker said. “We have had consultation with our lawyers to understand what options we have as a group of councillors to effectively, pragmatically, within good governance practice, deal with this situation. We find we have no [other] levers to deal with this.
“We are concerned as a group of councillors that given we are a large municipality – 145,000 residents, a $290 million budget, $2 billion of assets under management – that it’s really important that we have a leader the be the figurehead, the go-to, the point of contact for everything that we aspire to do and need to do.”
Liam Hughes told The Times he plans to return and blamed the mayor’s decision to run for federal politics for the situation. “I am deeply disappointed at the vote. The mayor’s unexpected decision to run for a higher political office is the reason for this disruption to council, not my decision to take annual leave over the summer break. If I had been given any warning at all, alternative plans could have been made,” he said.
“Whilst the mayor has been praised by the councillors for abandoning his role and commitment to Frankston residents, these same councillors have attacked me for the legitimate use of annual leave. This double standard is accentuated by the fact that if the mayor succeeds he breaks his commitment – made in November – to represent the residents of Frankston as mayor, whilst I’ll return to continue my role to represent Frankston residents guaranteed.”
Frankston Council says that Hughes has not been on a leave of absence during this time.
Conroy has faced criticism from ratepayers too for taking leave from council to contest the by-election. He has defended his decision, telling The Times that “we have an excellent group of hard-working councillors who give me full confidence in council’s ability to perform its functions during this time.”
“I have taken leave as mayor during this campaign period as I previously committed to doing. This approach is consistent with that taken by others such as Labor’s Kristy McBain during the Eden-Monaro by-election. It is also the approach taken at the recent Mulgrave by-election. I will not be receiving mayoral allowances during the campaign period,” Conroy said.
Conroy was elected mayor for a third consecutive term last November. Dunkley MP Peta Murphy died of metastatic breast cancer in December, triggering the by-election. Conroy’s candidacy for the Liberals was announced on 14 January.
Liam Hughes was also voted in as deputy mayor in November, five days later than expected after an initial vote failed to return a conclusive outcome. He was elected with the support of councillors Conroy, Suzette Tayler, David Asker, and Kris Bolam.
Councillors at last week’s meeting were concerned about the lack of a leader during the Dunkley by-election period. The by-election will take place on 2 March, with Conroy expected to be on leave until then. He will resign from council if the Liberals claim the seat.
Councillor Asker said that a solution is urgently needed to ensure council can advocate for funding during the campaign. “We don’t need leadership tomorrow, or the next day, or the week after that, or the week after that. We need leadership right now,” he said.
Conroy’s absence from council may also impact the future of the FMAC structure plan. Conroy has been a vocal advocate for council’s plan, which sets new higher height limits for developments in Frankston’s city centre. It has been going through a consultation process and is expected to be debated at council again in March. The recent addition to council of Glenn Aitken, an outspoken voice against perceived overdevelopment, may also affect the outcome.
Ironically, the Victorian Liberals released a statement last year which read that planning minister Sonya Kilkenny’s decision to remove interim three-storey height limits near Kananook Creek had “paved the way for massive foreshore development.” It read that “the planning minister promised to protect the Frankston community from overdevelopment, by applying a three storey overlay limit across the Frankston foreshore.”
At council’s January meeting, Kris Bolam was tasked with being the temporary chair in the absence of the mayoral team. He said the situation had created a “leadership void”.
“It’s very hard to run a viable campaign or a campaign of any kind without someone at the helm,” he said. “Effectively we are a government presently without an active mayor. We are entering a sensitive time also as a council with our budget process just about to begin.
“Councillors have made it very clear to the CEO and his executive team that it is our intention to leave no stone unturned and complete a number of outstanding projects that must be completed before the new council is elected. This includes the FMAC structure plan, the contract for the $60 million Frankston Basketball and Gymnastics Stadium, and of course the opening of the Frankston Yacht Club.”
Councillors Sue Baker, Claire Harvey, Glenn Aitken, Brad Hill, David Asker, and Kris Bolam supported the no confidence motion. Suzette Tayler, the only present councillor that did not support the no confidence vote, leapt to Hughes’ defence. She said, “I thought very long and hard about this, and I thought I’m glad I’m not away because then I would be lynched.”
Tayler withdrew the “lynched” comment after Aitken said it may cause offence.
Hughes was elected to council for the first time in 2020, then elected Frankston’s youngest ever deputy mayor in 2022. His father Steven Hughes was elected in 2020 too, but resigned late last year after multiple suspensions.