The Cambridge city councilor responsible for an outburst at a meeting watched online worldwide is a candidate in this year’s federal election.
Rod Bradley has been approved as the WA party candidate for Swan’s fringe seat, which spans the suburbs from South Perth to Kalamunda.
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It’s unclear whether his political party will back his candidacy after his collapse toward the end of last week’s council meeting, in which he spoke out of turn, refusing the Mayor’s direction to put his microphone out. And repeatedly banged on his desk and turned his light on and off as a distraction for others involved.
At one point, Cambridge Mayor Keri Shannon told Cr Bradley that he was behaving like a child and ordered no further participation, an order he did his best to ignore.
SEE THE BURST IN THE PLAYER ABOVE
“I don’t care, it’s wrong,” Cr Bradley began, banging on his desk hard enough to shake his keyboard, repeating his accusation.
Mayor: “Cr Bradley, okay, I’m going to stop you now, Cr Bradley.
“Cr Bradley, you’re being ridiculous now. Let us turn off Cr Bradley’s speaker.
“That’s really against Cr Bradley’s standing orders. If you want me to go to standing orders, I will.’
Cr Bradley: “I will turn the light on and off a few times; how does that feel?
Mayor: ‘You act like a child and…
CR Bradley: “No, I act like a fucking cross councilor; that’s what it is. I’m mad at you, Mayor; this is stupid.”
The nightly episode lasted approximately 90 seconds and was captured and shared via the council’s new live-streaming service.
Camera IconTown of Cambridge Councilor Rod Bradley. Credit: City of Cambridge
City officials took longer than usual to turn off their microphones, as councilors were all home for the virtual meeting rather than in the council chambers.
The WA party did not answer PerthNow’s questions about Cr Bradley yesterday.
Swan is expected to come down to a battle between liberal newcomer Kristy McSweeney and Labor challenger Zaneta Mascarenhas following the retirement of liberal stalwart Steve Irons, who has been on the cutting edge for 16 years.
As a counselor, Cr Bradley is not afraid of a mess in the council chamber, often voting in his way on decisions that conflict with the other elected representatives.
He was also the most outspoken member of the council when it voted to introduce technology to videotape its meetings.
Cr Bradley last December expressed the funny fear that councilors would need make-up rooms and be more concerned about their appearance in front of the camera than they are about making decisions.
Mayor Keri Shannon replied that being in front of the camera could lead to a higher standard of interaction between councilors.
“Certain behavior that needs to be observed, and if it’s streamed live, I think it lifts and elevates the tone,” she said.
Camera icon Councilor Rod Bradley (top left) during his outburst at the Town of Cambridge meeting. Credit: Zoom
This week she described Cr Bradley’s outburst as “disturbing” and said she would seek advice from the Department of Local Government.
“I think anyone who sees that behavior expects better at a council meeting,” she told 6PR.
“It’s just not appropriate in a professional environment.”
