The Supreme Court of Victoria has ruled that the Allan government’s suspension of former Whittlesea mayor Aidan McLindon was invalid, finding he was denied procedural fairness before the decision was made.
In a judgement delivered on Tuesday, Justice Steven Moore found former Local Government Minister Nick Staikos’ six-month suspension of McLindon in 2025 could not stand because municipal monitors failed to provide full details of the allegations against him.
“The order made to suspend the plaintiff for six months was invalid,” Justice Moore ruled.
Mr McLindon had challenged the decision in court after he was suspended as councillor for Kirrip Ward, with the mayoralty subsequently declared vacant.
The monitors alleged McLindon made public comments considered racist, homophobic and transphobic, and claimed his conduct posed “a serious risk to the health and safety of Councillors or members of Council staff.”
However, the court found the specific allegations were not properly put to him before the suspension recommendation was made. Lawyers representing Staikos had earlier conceded the monitors failed to provide procedural fairness.
The court also rejected arguments that Staikos later corrected the issue by allowing McLindon to respond to the monitors’ report.
During proceedings, McLindon defended previous comments regarding transgender flags in childcare settings.
“I said that trans flags should come out of childcare centres and kindergartens,” he said. “We should not be putting these things on children.”
Justice Moore stressed the case focused on the legality of the Minister’s decision, not the political debate surrounding the allegations.
McLindon previously ran against former Premier Daniel Andrews in the seat of Mulgrave at the 2022 Victorian election.
Source: Herald Sun.
