Opponents of vaccine mandates in the City of Busselton have gathered enough support to force a special electors' meeting on February 21 in what is believed to be a Western Australian first.
According to the public notice, campaigners at the meeting will ask the council to declare Busselton, south of Perth, a "pro-choice community" and ask Premier Mark McGowan to revoke state government-imposed mandates.
But Busselton Mayor Grant Henley told ABC Radio Perth's Morning program he had significant concerns about the meeting.
"The impact that's going to have on the resources of police to ensure that it's orderly [is considerable], we don't have that capacity, but also potentially the health system [will be impacted] should it be a [COVID-19] spreader event.
"I really don't want to be responsible for that."
Last month the City of Fremantle voted to reject an anti-mandate petition at an ordinary council meeting as hundreds of protesters chanted "shame" outside.
Under the Local Government Act, councils are compelled to hold a special electors' meeting if just 100 electors or 5 per cent of the population request one.
Mr Henley has written to Local Government Minister John Carey to seek "clarification and guidance" over whether the meeting should proceed.
Asked if he was worried about being accused of stifling free speech, Mr Henley told Mornings host Nadia Mitsopoulos he was open to a compromise.
"I think there are other options," he said.
"We could meet a delegation representing the concerns of these members of the community.
"I think the desired outcome [of the requesters of the special electors' meeting] is that we abolish mandates within the City of Busselton, although I'm not sure how under the Local Government Act that could be achieved.
"It is state direction that we are all compelled to comply with."
However, a WA government spokesperson said the Local Government Act did not include a provision for the minister to intervene if a meeting was called.
"Local governments can put in place measures to ensure meetings are run safely and efficiently," the spokesperson said.
Electors-only meeting
Listeners to the ABC Perth and WA Mornings program expressed concern at the prospect of the meeting not going ahead.
Guy said the purpose of the special electors' meeting was to allow members of the public to voice their concerns without prejudice.
Another said the electors meeting was "crucial" for democracy.
"We need to move forward and stop pretending that these voices are unimportant and selfish," the listener said.
The meeting would only be open to Busselton ratepayers, but Mr Henley said he was concerned people from other jurisdictions would also try to attend.
"That was stipulated in the local social media advertising, that they would not be allowed in as they're not electors," he said.
Last year, Premier Mark McGowan said the vaccine mandates, which affect about 75 per cent of the WA workforce, would stay in place "for a very long time while I'm the Premier".
Latest vaccination rates show 98.3 per cent of the population in WA over 12 years of age has now had at least one COVID-19 vaccine.
WA Local Government Association Acting President Karen Chappel said the organisation had asked the Local Government Minister to consider holding special electors meetings online to minimise the spread of COVID.
"As to the topic of discussions at a special electors meeting, any topics or decisions raised or discussed at the meeting are not binding upon the local government," she said.
"The results of a special electors meeting then goes to a council meeting for consideration.
"Members of the community who might be concerned with state government directions or policy need to raise these issues with their local Member of Parliament."
