Hume’s mayor fears that a series of racially inflammatory social media posts by a fellow councillor could undo years of work towards a culturally sensitive and inclusive community.
Cr Jack Medcraft has been slammed on social media in recent weeks after he shared and posted several controversial pictures and comments on his personal Facebook page between June and August this year.
They related to African youths and a story about Muslim girls refusing to share a swimming pool with male students.
The posts have come under fire from an Islamic group and resident Phillip Di Biase who is running for Hume council next month.
“The issue I have is with the language and disrespect for others that Cr Medcraft shows in these posts,” Mr Di Biase said.
“It’s unacceptable. If he has a problem with being politically correct then perhaps politics is no longer the place for him.”
An official complaint has been made to the Local Government Investigations and Compliance Inspectorate.
Mayor Helen Patsikatheodorou said she had not seen the Facebook posts but that any external complaint about a councillor would be investigated.
“We, as a council, try very, very hard to be very, very inclusive of all cultures and faiths,” Cr Patsikatheodorou said. “It’s disappointing to see a councillor do something which could undo that hard work that we’ve undertaken across the years.
“It’s been a very peaceful community, a very inclusive community – I think comments like this could be inflammatory to people who don’t need much pushing.”
Last year, Cr Medcraft publicly apologised for labelling Hume the “terrorist training centre of Australia” on a closed Facebook group.
But Cr Medcraft is now telling his critics to “get a life”. He said he stood by his posts and said they were aimed at radicalised Muslim extremists. “They don’t represent the true Muslim in the community,” he said.
