Table of Contents
The NSW Office of Local Government’s 2025 Free Speech Guideline was meant to fix a growing problem in local government: the selective use of Code of Conduct rules to silence some voices while excusing others. But in the Hawkesbury, recent events suggest that problem hasn’t gone away.
March 2026 has seen Deputy Mayor Sarah McMahon and Cr Danielle Wheeler use pejorative language to describe residents in separate posts on their respective Councillor Facebook pages. The NSW Office of Local Government said if anyone had concerns about Cr McMahon and or Wheeler's conduct they should write to the General Manager Elizabeth Richardson.
In the two separate incidents Councillors have put the spotlight firmly on how standards are applied.
In one case, Greens Councillor Wheeler publicly described a group of voters as “f***ing morons.” In another more targeted attack, the Liberal Deputy Mayor Cr McMahon labelled the publisher of this newspaper “vile, destructive and evil” in response to reporting on a Council-approved overseas trade delegation.
Both comments are contrary to the decorum expected of their status as government representatives and fall short of the level of respectful leadership the community expects. More importantly, both engage the same provision of the NSW Model Code of Conduct: the requirement that councillors must not behave in a way that brings their role or the council into disrepute.
The law and the standard would suggest that The Code applies equally to everyone. So the question is simple: will it be applied equally? This is where the system often breaks down.
In 2023, Councillor Eddie Dogramaci was formally censured following a Code of Conduct investigation in relation to the distribution of leaflets critical of council infrastructure regarding the broken sewage pipe - Rising Main C. The matter escalated into a full investigation process that ultimately cost Hawkesbury ratepayers approximately $46,000 and was resolved with Cr Dogramaci apologising for his actions.
That disciplinary action against Cr Dogramaci was led by then Mayor Sarah McMahon and supported by Councillor Danielle Wheeler, among others. That case demonstrates that the Code of Conduct is not just theoretical. When applied, it is expensive, and in Cr Dogramaci's case he was compelled by Council to display public contrition.
The Gazette has been advised that in addition to Cr Dogramaci, multiple Code of Conduct complaints have also been raised against the other previously mentioned Councillors. But how far these proceed is yet to be seen.
The lodging of complaints such as these raises an uncomfortable question: is the cost of the complaint investigation worth the outcome to ratepayers, particularly given that if a breach is proven, the likely result would be for the Councillor to simply apologise?
