On paper, the yellow council building in Lilydale is hardly the leading contender to be an centre of conspiracist-led activity in Australia.
Yet the council on the outskirts of Melbourne that stretches deep into Victoria’s Yarra Ranges – for which it is named – has been battling fringe conspiracy groups for months due to its support of a 20-minute neighbourhood.
First, the council sought to clear up what it described as “incorrect information” about the urban planning concept. Then, in January, it hired security guards after a series of unruly meetings.
Two months later, it moved the meetings online, citing “consistent and increasing pattern of verbal abuse, intimidation and antisocial behaviour” by some members of the public gallery.
The Municipal Association of Victoria’s president, David Clark, says the Yarra Ranges council has become a major target, but is not alone.
He says about 30 councils across the state have been targeted by some members of My Place – a group that professes any goal to create 15 or 20 minutes neighbourhoods is a Trojan horse to put residents in a type of permanent lockdown.
“Of those councils, about 10 to 15 have had disruption to their work,” Clark says.
“The worst of it really does seem to be concentrated to the Yarra Ranges and Frankston – we understand they are probably the two most affected areas in the state.”
Last week the Latrobe city council, based in Morwell, announced it was also moving online after months of “disruptive behaviour by members of the public attending council meetings”.
The council says the disturbances began earlier this year, when council meeting attendance rose from about 10 people to almost 100.
Since March the council has employed security guards, after an altercation between two community members during proceedings.
“Just say you were on the edge of a footy field and you carried on like this, an umpire would pay the other side a free kick, or they’d kick you out of the match,” Clark says.
“We wouldn’t accept this behaviour on the field. We wouldn’t accept this behaviour on the street. I think that’s a real challenge that the state pollies just don’t get – unless they’ve been in local government – just how insulated they are.”
From echo chamber to council chambers
According to Clark, there are about 110 My Place groups in Australia – though they are largely concentrated in Victoria.
According to many of the groups, the planning concept of a 20-minute neighbourhood will in effect lead to “real time data / tracking” of residents in order to impose travel limits.
“If you exceed any regulations set by government you will be DENIED ACCESS to everyday activities,” says one of the group’s pamphlets.
Dr Josh Roose, an expert in extremism at Deakin university says this is likely due to the state’s long Covid-19 lockdowns, when many fringe groups capitalised on the anger and uncertainty simmering in the community to attract a new following.
“It’s often white collar men and women in middle age being attracted to these movements,” he says.
“Many of them are family members or relatives or even friends who have been drawn into this rabbit hole or echo chamber of conspiracy during the pandemic.
“There is this idea that the world is changing rapidly and the only way to act against it is to mobilise against the ‘elites’.”
Dr James Mortensen, a lecturer in national security at the Australian National university, says the pandemic kickstarted an underlying theme – “a loss of control in the political and social space.”
“That’s why ideas like the 15-minute city and groups like My Place is still very much happening in the post-Covid world and will continue to unless the wider society changes how we want to approach them,” he said.
Roose says throughout the past decade, councils have become the frontline of debates on national and even international issues due to their accessibility. This includes protests against the construction of mosques, cancelling Australia Day events, lockdowns, Covid-19 vaccines, transgender rights – and increasingly the sovereign citizens movement and 15-minute cities.
“These movements are talking amongst themselves about local councils effectively being the softer underbelly of democracy, and they’re going to seek to not only gain power through these councils … but also to subvert the system from within,” Roose says.
He said the same tactic is being employed in the US where the far-right group the Proud Boys recently stating one of its main goals was to get more involved in local politics.
“The culture wars are playing out in a way big at the lower levels of democracy in the US – school boards, councils or municipal governments. That’s where the whole drag queen story time protests really started,” Roose says.
The debate over security and democracy
Alongside councils being targeted over their urban planning, others have been forced to cancel LGBTQ+ events due to protests by other groups.
In May, Monash council was the fifth in the state to cancel a drag storytime event scheduled for International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) after angry protesters derailed a council meeting.
After the protest, the Municipal Association of Victoria and chief executives from councils across the state met with police and Roose to improve safety and behaviour at council meetings.
The Victorian minister for local government, Melissa Horne, says the state is also “working actively with councils to implement a range of practical measures that will improve safety at council meetings”.
“Councillors and council staff work for local communities, and they have every right to a safe workplace,” she says.
Roose cautions against councils shutting down its meetings to the public – saying it was important for councils to continue to be transparent and accountable to their communities – but urges “serious” state and federal funding to allow them to go ahead safely.
The funds, he says, could pay for screening equipment at council entrances, secure car parks for councillors and staff, larger venues for meetings and private security and police when required.
Mortensen, however, warns that cracking down on potential security risks of conspiracist groups could further alienate them.
“By treating these groups as illegitimate actors in society, we are reinforcing the same anxieties that drive them,” he says.
Dean Hurlston, the vice-president of advocacy group Council Watch, says there is also a growing frustration among residents with genuine concerns as local government increasingly turns to online communication.
In Melbourne’s inner city, the Yarra city council has slowly moved from meeting fortnightly to monthly over this term, with the opportunity for community participation also limited to two minutes per person. However, this move is unrelated to My Place protests.
Hurlston, a former Angry Victorians party candidate, stressed that many people attending meetings were not associated with My Place.
“There were some very well behaved people who still feel aggrieved and frustrated,” he says.
He says while safety was is a priority, closing public meetings “denied ordinary democracy and participation.”
Clarke too, insists, the councils shouldn’t lose their unique connection with the community.
“Local council is all about being really open and you can walk in the door, you’re at the same level as the council, you can walk up and have conversation with a councillor,” he says.
“That process is pretty dear to us, we don’t want to throw it out because of a few hooligans,” he says.
As for Yarra Ranges council, they’re returning to public meetings on 11 July. Last week the mayor, Jim Child, warned people will be asked to leave if necessary.
“We have many community members wanting to attend so that they can participate and share their stories about decisions being considered that impact them directly,” he said.
“They, along with councillors and staff, have the right to attend these meetings without being abused, threatened or intimidated and we hope that the disruptions we experienced earlier this year will be a thing of the past.”
