Shellharbour Labor councillor Robert Petreski has suggested he was "knifed" after being voted out of several council committees in a testy meeting on Tuesday night.
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During the Shellharbour City Council meeting, councillors nominated to fill various committees and working parties.
In most cases, the incumbent councillor kept their position but, in the case of another nomination, a vote was held.
In the six contested committees an independent was voted in at the expense of a Labor councillor.
In each of those cases, the vote was along party affiliation lines - with the five independents voting as a block against the four Labor councillors.
Cr Petreski was the big loser in all of this, losing most of his committee positions, including the Australia Day Committee.
"I was removed, some would say axed, some would say knifed, but I was removed from those positions," Cr Petreski said.
"I've been removed from four of the six positions I was on. I am down to two electable positions - I believe that is a breach of council's EEO policy."
He added that he felt it was "a personal attack".
Cr Petreski said, with the new council less than a year old, the changing of committee members would be "a bit unsettling for our community".
One of the independents, Deputy Mayor Kellie Marsh noted there were a number of committees where no councillor nominated - implying Cr Petreski was free to put his hand up for those.
The independent mayor Chris Homer dismissed Cr Petreski's complaint.
"It's all about choice and how it's turned out tonight is how it's turned out," Mayor Homer said.
Labor councillors Lou Stefanovski and Maree Duffy-Moon along with independent John Davey - who was elected to several committees at Cr Petreski's expense - were all keen to debate the issue further.
However, as Cr Petreski's complaint was "business arising", Mayor Homer did not accept any further debate on the issue.
This is not the first time friction between Labor and independents on Shellharbour council has flared up.
In August Cr Petreski felt Labor councillors had been snubbed when selecting voting delegates for the NSW Local Government Conference.
He also raised concerns about the independents voting as a block.
The issue surfaced again just a month later.
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
