Court finds 'vile' posts by Council Watch head not political commentary

Australia Broadcast Center

12 hours ago

The head of a ratepayer advocacy group has been hit with a two-year intervention order after a magistrate ruled he stalked and harassed an inner-city Melbourne mayor under the guise of political discourse, and was likely to do so again.
Stonnington mayor Melina Sehr was on Tuesday granted a Personal Safety Intervention Order (PSIO) against Council Watch president Dean Hurlston over allegations Mr Hurlston had harassed her for six years.
Magistrate Michelle Hodgson ruled that while some of the content put before the court did constitute legitimate political commentary, the nature, frequency and persistence of Mr Hurlston's communication had caused it to "lose its political character".
Ms Hodgson told the court Mr Hurlston's content showed "ample evidence of ill-will, spite and animosity" towards Cr Sehr, and that Mr Hurlston's "reckless disregard for the truth", denial of intent and justification of harm in court meant she did not find him a credible witness.
The magistrate also said personal malice could not be concealed "under the superficial veneer of political discourse or public-interest journalism".
She said Mr Hurlston knew his conduct would cause harm or fear of harm.
Throughout the four-day hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates Court, Ms Hodgson noted some of Mr Hurlston's social media posts, texts, emails and videos were fair comment and some were "pretty vile comments".
Ms Hodgson said the concern was ultimately how they were communicated.
She pointed to multiple examples of Mr Hurlston pairing genuine criticism with personal attacks, including one instance in which he accused Cr Sehr of financial impropriety alongside a "pretty personal attack" that alleged the councillor had weaponised the death of her mother for political gains.
Cr Sehr told the court she had been subject to an "unrelenting stream of mockery, belittlement and abuse" from Mr Hurlston since 2019, when Stonnington council decided to build a series of netball courts near his home.
Giving evidence, Cr Sehr referred to a 486-page document containing commentary and correspondence from Mr Hurlston, Council Watch and other online users that included posts likening Cr Sehr's conduct to the Holocaust solution, a pinned map showing where she lived, comments that Cr Sehr "might need a spare pair of undies", doctored images that allegedly fat-shamed her, and allegations she inappropriately touched staff.
Cr Sehr also told the court Mr Hurlston had emailed her questions under an alias and claimed he worked for a non-existent media organisation.
She said Mr Hurlston also contacted her employer and her contract was subsequently terminated.
Mr Hurlston admitted in court he was responsible for the email sent under a false identity, telling the court he believed Cr Sehr would not respond to correspondence from him.
The court heard from three other current and former female Stonnington councillors who alleged Mr Hurlston also targeted them and continued to do so despite repeated requests to stop.
During cross-examination of Cr Sehr, Ms Hodgson repeatedly warned Mr Hurlston's lawyer, Gordon Chisholm, to stop trying to prove the alleged misconduct was true and to stop introducing fresh allegations.
"It's not an opportunity to raise other allegations in relation to Ms Sehr."
Mr Hurlston told the court Council Watch was a "very complex multifaceted organisation" that balanced consulting work, lobbying and media coverage.
He acknowledged it published material that was "salacious" and "intentionally click baiting" to "to hook people in".
"But in amongst that there are some very real stories."
Mr Hurlston told the court his tactics against Cr Sehr were not unique to her.
He said he had suffered "unrelenting attacks" from Stonnington councillors and their associates and that explained why he had made comments about those councillors' vaginas.
"I would say it's rude, deeply offensive, but you're not looking at the context when asking if it's decent," Mr Hurlston told the court.
Mr Hurlston is not facing criminal charges but could be jailed if found in breach of the two-year intervention order.
The order does not prevent Mr Hurlston from engaging in legitimate political commentary of Cr Sehr, but all content must be factual and relate exclusively to her public political position.
Ms Hodgson prohibited Mr Hurlston from posting anything "degrading or demeaning" and personal, and he was not permitted to create, administer or author any forum for that purpose.