![Newcastle Liberal councillor Katrina Wark. Newcastle Liberal councillor Katrina Wark.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/H4rQr3kwJCDkT9nukzGYK/19b6b5a2-6df7-46ac-b6dc-9dc8c63ebdea.jpg/r2530_292_5721_2263_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Community members say it is "normal practice" for residents to contribute to notices of motion by councillors after criticism from the City of Newcastle CEO over the author of a councillor's motion.
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It comes after the Newcastle Herald reported on February 22 Newcastle Liberal councillor Katrina Wark's notice of motion, which called for the immediate release of the full report into City of Newcastle CEO Jeremy Bath's connections with Newcastle Herald letter writer Scott Neylon, was rejected by City of Newcastle.
Cr Wark said she was "not surprised" her notice of motion, which also called for the CEO's suspension, was rejected.
Cr Wark's notice of motion called for the suspension of Mr Bath "until the original accusations can be thoroughly investigated and an evidence-based report provided to councillors" and for the CEO's performance review and remuneration to be laid on the table until a report on the investigation is prepared.
"All I'm doing is wanting answers for the community and I feel like I'm being stonewalled on getting those answers," Cr Wark said.
The council's executive director corporate services David Clarke rejected the motion after deeming it "would be unlawful in regard to CN's obligations" under the GIPA Act 2009.
The matter was delegated to Mr Clarke due to the motion involving Mr Bath.
The council has previously said it was required to consult with relevant parties to comply with legal obligations before it could release the investigation report.
The Herald asked City of Newcastle what part of the GIPA Act the rejected motion applied to and what would be breached if the investigation report was released.
A City of Newcastle spokesperson said in accordance with the council's code of meeting practice, "CN is unable to provide commentary or further details about the notice of motion".
"In accordance with clause 3.20 of the code, any business, including a notice of motion, must not be included in a council meeting's agenda if, in the opinion of the CEO, the implementation of that business would be unlawful," the spokesperson said.
"The code also requires that the CEO must report, without giving details of the item of business any such exclusion to the next meeting.
"All notices of motions are assessed in accordance with the code prior to being included in a council meeting agenda.
"The most recent example of an exclusion was in relation to a notice of motion on 26 November 2019."
Fellow Liberal councillor Callum Pull said he had no issue with the council's reasons for rejecting Cr Wark's motion.
"From the information I've seen, the rejection of the notice of motion was justified," he said.
Greens councillor Charlotte McCabe said she had spoken with David Clarke on Thursday and understood why the submitted notice of notion was unlawful and needed to be excluded from the agenda.
Author of the motion
Mr Bath has also alleged it was "plausible" Newcastle Maritime Museum president and former councillor Bob Cook wrote Cr Wark's notice of motion, after the document's metadata listed 'bob cook' under authors.
Cr Wark said she wrote it and Mr Cook said while he provided feedback to Cr Wark on wording, he did not write the motion.
Cr Wark said she was in hospital and planned to submit the motion from her laptop, but was having WiFi issues so asked Mr Cook to text it to her so she could submit it from her phone.
Mr Bath disputed that explanation.
"Metadata is data saved to a digital file that identifies the author of a document, along with when the file was created, how many times it has been revised, and the location it is saved to," he said.
"The revelation that Mr Cook's metadata is saved within the file of the motion submitted by Councillor Wark, creates a technological riddle.
"Councillor Wark has admitted to the Newcastle Herald that she sent a draft version of the notice of motion to Mr Cook, but says that he only read it and then forwarded it back to her unchanged.
"This explanation defies technological facts, as metadata is only stamped on a Word document when it is modified."
Cr Pull said the fact the elected council was due to debate a matter relating to the maritime museum on Tuesday night made Mr Cook's potential involvement in the notice of motion "problematic".
Community input
But Newcastle East Residents Group's Christine Everingham contacted the Herald to say she was "gobsmacked" reading about the dispute.
"Since when couldn't the public be asked to inform councillors on a notion of motion before being submitted?" she said.
"This is what community spokespeople do. I've worked on notices of motion myself - together with councillors. Of course it's the councillor who OKs and submits the final wording."
Cr Wark said she and Mr Cook "had done nothing wrong".
"It didn't surprise me that myself and Bob Cook are being muddied by the person who the notice of motion was about," she said.
"He's trying to muddy the waters and get the attention off him.
"We have done nothing wrong.
"I work with multiple people in the community.
"I did the notice of motion because of public uproar about the investigation report.
"I was doing my job."
I did the notice of motion because of public uproar about the investigation report. I was doing my job.
- Liberal councillor Katrina Wark
"I'm amused that he has become so desperate that he incorrectly blames me for doing what is quite a normal practice," Mr Cook said.