Council gag goes too far

June 16 2009, 3:41pm

Wattle Range Council has gone too far in seeking to gag elected members from making unauthorised statements to the press.After adopting a media policy in April, council effectively conceded a mistake when it sought to amend the policy just two months later.The original policy required councillors to disclose if they were making a "personal" statement.This newspaper received a letter from council's chief executive officer, Frank Brennan, seeking our cooperation and we were happy to oblige.However, by a 7-4 vote last week council has sought to restrict councillors from speaking to the press at all without prior approval from the mayor or CEO.The effect of this policy is that Cr Peter Muller needs to have his weekly newspaper column vetted in advance, ostensibly for fact checking.It remains to be seen if Mayor Mark Braes or Mr Brennan actually censors any of Cr Muller's columns, but the notion they potentially have this power is disturbing.Mr Brennan is unelected and has no mandate to interfere with a councillor's personal community engagement. His or anyone's version of particular facts may also be open to interpretation or dispute.Such a draconian policy could also discourage people from standing for public office.There's an adage in politics to not underestimate the intelligence of the voters.The electors of Wattle Range are smart enough to know when a councillor is expressing a personal opinion.There is no need to implicitly question any councillor's ability or integrity by requiring an elected member to seek prior approval of written comments.