A NARRABRI council meeting was brought to a standstill due to a ruckus cause by a rescission motion seeking to repeal the council's decision to official endorse Santos' coal seam gas project.
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In November, councillors were preparing to note a report providing answers to concerns raised by the council about the CSG project, however an amendment was added by deputy mayor Cameron Staines for council to officially endorse the project, which was then passed.
Cr Ann Loder put forward a rescission motion to repeal the decision at the council's last meeting of the year, which was backed by Crs Ron Campey and Robert Kneale.
However, in a separate motion she requested it be delayed until February next year, so general manager Stewart Todd could share legal advice sought on the rescission motion with councillors.
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Mr Stewart claimed the legal advice stated the initial decision "was a valid decision" and the rescission motion was "not legally correct".
"I am disappointed the general manager spent ratepayers money to seek legal advice on this motion, and then refuse to give all councillors a copy of that legal advice," Cr Loder said.
"Does this meet our values of integrity and acting transparently?"
Cr Loder said the original motion made the council look like "fools", given it had recently raised concerns about the project, and that the community should be given the opportunity to have its say on such a big decision.
"A logical person wouldn't be expressing support at this point in time with so many key issues unresolved," Cr Loder said.
"We have an obligation to actually involve the community in any debate to resolve council's support or otherwise for such a divisive development."
Mayor Cathy Redding said council's concerns had been addressed in the recent report and pointed out the community had been given previous opportunities to comment on the project.
The rescission motion was voted on and defeated.
However, the meeting was soon adjourned for 45 minutes due to confusion around Cr Loder's motion to delay the vote until February to give councillor's the opportunity to view Mr Todd's legal advice.
When the meeting resumed the rescission motion was recommitted. This time councillors voted on whether to delay the vote until February.
The motion was knocked back. The meeting was then moved in to a closed council session.
The meeting was re-opened 15 minutes late, and the original rescission motion was voted upon, going down five votes to three.