A Maribyrnong councillor who publicly apologised for implying another councillor was racist says she only said sorry to save ratepayers money.
Cr Catherine Cumming used last week’s council meeting to apologise to Cr Michael Clarke for suggesting his decision to nominate fellow Labor councillor Martin Zakharov as mayor, rather than backing Cr Nam Quach who has Vietnamese heritage, could be seen as racist.
Her comments were made during a conversation at a council function following October’s election of Cr Nam Quach as mayor.
Cr Clarke last week told Star Weekly that after Cr Cumming made her assertion, he drew council chief executive Stephen Wall over and asked her to repeat the comment.
“She said: ‘councillor Michael Clarke is a racist and going to be seen as a racist’,” he said.
“We went through mediation and she acknowledged she had said this but she wasn’t prepared to apologise.”
Cr Clarke said he didn’t want the matter to go further and wanted Cr Cumming to apologise. However when she refused he requested the matter be reviewed by a Municipal Association of Victoria councillor conduct panel.
Last week’s eleventh-hour apology satisfied Cr Clarke enough to withdraw his request. “It’s not the mistakes, it’s how we manage those mistakes and I unreservedly accept her apology,” he said.
Cr Cumming this week told Star Weekly she should never have had to apologise as her comments were made in a private conversation and not in a public forum.
She said she apologised because the spat had already cost ratepayers $15,000 in mediation and could cost a further $20,000.
“What I said to Cr Clarke at the mayoral function is how I felt at the time and my feeling has not changed, but this particular councillor has wanted to get political mileage out of it.”
Cr Cumming said Labor could have voted Cr Zakharov in as mayor when the party held a majority in the last council term, rather than waiting until Cr Quach was nominated.
“I saw it as a slap in the face to Cr Quach in front of his family and friends and the Vietnamese community,” she said.
“What inspired me to apologise was that Cr Clarke wished to waste community money by going down a frivolous and petty path that had already cost the community $15,000.”
Cr Cumming said the issue appeared to be payback for Cr Clarke having to apologise to her last October over comments he made at a ‘no paid parking rally’ in Yarraville.
