Arbiter Simon Heath, a former IBAC Deputy Commissioner, was appointed by the Victorian Principal Council Conduct Registrar to hear two complaints lodged by Cr Briffa against Cr Peter Hemphill alleging that he breached 3 of the Councillor Standards of Conduct.

The arbitration process resulted in findings of misconduct against Cr Hemphill for breaches of clauses 1,3 and 4 of the Councillor Standards of Conduct.

The Arbiter subsequently directed that Cr Hemphill: 

• Make written apologies to Cr Briffa and Ms Eyckens;
• Apologise to Cr Briffa at the next Council meeting (being the Council Meeting of 10 September 2024) acknowledging that he failed to treat her with “dignity, fairness, objectivity, courtesy and respect”;
• Apologise to Ms Eyckens acknowledging that he failed to treat her with “dignity, fairness, objectivity, courtesy and respect”; and
• Be suspended from the office of Council for a period of one month to take effect the day after the Arbiter’s determination is tabled at the next Council meeting, or from 11 September 2024, whichever is sooner. 

Cr Peter Hemphill is the second Hobsons Bay City Councillor ever suspended from office (Cr Daria Kellander was the only other one).

It is also of note that the 1 month suspension is the maximum suspension an arbiter can impose.

Arbitration Details

Cr Briffa lodged applications seeking findings of misconduct against Cr Hemphill on 17 May 2024 and 12 June 2024. In relation to the first application, the Principal Councillor Conduct Registrar (PCCR) advised Crs Briffa and Hemphill on 7 June 2024 that he was satisfied that: 

• the Application was not frivolous, vexatious, misconceived or lacking in substance; and 
• there was sufficient evidence to support an allegation of a breach of the Councillor Code of Conduct as specified in the Application. 

On 21 June 2024 the PCCR advised the parties he was also satisfied of these two criteria in relation to the second application.

The first application was about an email Cr Hemphill sent on 29 February 2024 to the Council’s Executive Leadership Team, all Councillors, and Manager Corporate Integrity (Legal Counsel) in which he made numerous inaccurate, inflammatory and nasty remarks about Cr Briffa.

The second application was about Cr Hemphill’s statements during the Council Meeting held on 11 June 2024 in which he made inappropriate, inaccurate and disrespectful remarks about a council officer and Cr Briffa, and in which he breached confidentiality.

An Arbiter was subsequently appointed and issued written directions on 24 June 2024, establishing a directions hearing via video-conferencing for 9 July 2024. The arbitration process comprised a directions hearing on 9 July 2024, a brief hearing on 30 July 2024, which was adjourned to and completed on 15 August 2024. 

Cr Hemphill was advised of all of these processes and Directions by the Council’s Councillor Conduct Officer (CCO). Cr Hemphill contacted the PCCR to have the Arbitration process delayed to September 2024.  Cr Hemphill chose not to participate in this process. He could have joined the Hearing remotely but chose not to. At any rate, these complaints were about an email Cr Hemphill sent and his comments during a council meeting and nothing he could have contributed would have justified his conduct. The Arbiter read the email and watched the video recording of the meeting.

Arbiter’s Decision

The Arbiter’s decision notes: 

“The Arbiter remained of the view that the Respondent had been given ample opportunity to be heard and, in the absence of any explanation as to why the Respondent had not complied with the directions, further directions and additional directions, the hearing proceeded.”

The Arbitration ultimately resulted in findings of misconduct against Cr Hemphill for breaches of causes 1, 3 and 4 of the Councillor Standards of Conduct.

The Arbiter also finally puts to bed some of the nasty and erroneous nonsense Cr Hemphill has been spreading about me for years.

The full Arbiter determination is available via the following link:

Also see post about Cr Daria Kellander’s suspension as a Councillor – https://briffa.org/cr-kellander-suspended-for-misconduct