The Hawkesbury Business Group (HBG) has condemned Hawkesbury City Council’s decision to ban representatives of the Hawkesbury Gazette from attending Council meetings and entering Council premises, describing the move as a serious overreach and an attack on local media scrutiny.
The exclusion, imposed by Mayor Les Sheather and Acting General Manager Will Barton, relies on Council’s obligations under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and argues that the presence of the Gazette poses a psychosocial risk to councillors and staff.
Under the direction, representatives of the Gazette and Hawkesbury Radio have been prohibited from physically attending Council meetings and Council-controlled premises for media purposes, although Council meetings remain publicly livestreamed.
The Hawkesbury Business Group says it rejects Council’s justification outright.
“This is not workplace health and safety. This is an overreach designed to silence the Gazette,” HBG President Phil Bamford said.
“The Work Health and Safety Act was written to protect workers from genuine hazards. It was never intended to be used as a tool to remove journalists from a public forum because their reporting is uncomfortable.”
Mr Bamford said the decision had broader implications beyond the Hawkesbury Gazette itself and raised serious concerns about transparency and democratic accountability within local government.
“This is not just about one publication. It’s about whether public institutions can decide which media organisations are allowed to physically observe public meetings,” he said.
“The Hawkesbury community has a right to independent scrutiny of decisions involving public money, public infrastructure and local governance.”
The HBG also argued that if Council is genuinely concerned about psychological stress within the community, it should focus on the growing pressures being experienced by Hawkesbury residents and businesses.
“Ratepayers are feeling the real psychological stress,” Mr Bamford said.
Among the issues identified by the business group were:
- budget blow-outs on major projects, including the redevelopment of the Richmond Swimming Pool;
- the proposed Special Rate Variation and its impact on households and small businesses;
- lengthy delays in development applications leaving builders, families and business owners in financial uncertainty;
- and governance controversies, including the reported $340,000 payout to the outgoing General Manager and ongoing scrutiny surrounding the sale of the Windsor sewage system.
“These are the things keeping Hawkesbury ratepayers awake at night and causing real, measurable psychological stress in our community,” Mr Bamford said. “Yet there is no Work Health and Safety Act protecting the residents and businesses on the receiving end of Council’s mismanagement.”
The HBG defended the role of local journalism in maintaining accountability and transparency within public institutions.
“A free press is part of good governance, not a threat to it,” Mr Bamford said.
“The Hawkesbury Gazette has been reporting on this community since 1888. Local journalism is one of the few remaining ways ordinary residents can understand how their rates are being spent and how decisions affecting their homes, businesses and futures are being made.”
“Banning the local paper from the chamber does not make Council safer. It makes it less accountable.”
“Councils that welcome scrutiny do not need to issue banning orders. If councillors and staff are under pressure, the answer is to address the underlying issues being reported, not remove the reporter.”
The Hawkesbury Business Group has called on Mayor Sheather and Acting General Manager Barton to immediately rescind the exclusion, restore the Gazette’s access to Council meetings and premises, and refocus Council’s attention on what it describes as the genuine sources of stress affecting Hawkesbury residents and businesses.
The comments come amid escalating statewide attention on the issue, which has already attracted interest from metropolitan media outlets and debate within the New South Wales Legislative Council.
Council has defended its position by arguing that it has a legal obligation to manage psychosocial risks affecting staff and councillors and that the exclusion is a proportionate workplace safety measure.
Critics, however, continue to question whether the Local Government Act 1993 provides any clear authority for a standing ban preventing local media from physically attending open civic meetings.
The Gazette has indicated it will continue reporting on Council affairs and has temporarily relocated its “Council Press Desk” to the public footpath outside Council Chambers while seeking further legal and governance advice regarding the exclusion.
Hawkesbury Business Group Inc represents the collective interests of business in the Hawkesbury region with its membership managing over $1 billion in assets and employing 1500 plus workers.
