An inner-city Melbourne council has been temporarily ordered not to take down any political signage in a key battleground seat just days out from the Victorian state election, as Labor accuses the "Greens-dominated" group of interfering in the poll.
State Labor MP Kat Theophanous has launched legal action in the Supreme Court of Victoria against Darebin City Council, which she claims illegally took down eight billboards without her knowledge.
The billboards were installed at four locations around the Northcote electorate, which Ms Theophanous has held since 2018.
She said the council had no power to remove them because they were on private property and were not subject to Darebin's rules, also known as local laws.
"It's disgraceful that Greens-controlled Darebin council have used ratepayers' money to launch an assault on our democracy for political purposes," Ms Theophanous told the ABC.
She claimed that "voting patterns" and the election of the mayor were evidence of the council's political allegiance.
Three of the nine councillors serving on the Darebin City Council are members of the Victorian Greens.
"By removing and destroying lawful billboards during an election, Darebin council have sought to interfere with the democratic process and people's right to show their support," she said.
City of Darebin says councillors have 'no input' into local law enforcement
But the allegations have been rejected by Darebin council.
"The application of local laws to manage signage in the municipality is an operational matter and as such, councillors have no input into how and when the local law is enforced by officers of Darebin City Council," a council spokeswoman said.
"We take these allegations seriously and respect the autonomy of the court along with the importance of the electoral process."
Court documents reveal that two of Ms Theophanous's billboards were ultimately destroyed, while the other six were found at the council's tip in Reservoir.
They have since been reinstalled at the same sites and on Tuesday, her lawyers successfully convinced Justice Tim Ginnane to make an order stopping Darebin council from interfering or removing the signs ahead of another Supreme Court hearing on Wednesday.
"Subsequent to the theft, my campaign team installed some video cameras on some of our replaced signage and those signs were not removed," Ms Theophanous said.
"So it does beg the question, if council thought that they were in the right, why didn't they then subsequently remove them once the cameras were on them."
Greens reject Labor's accusation of 'dirty tricks'
The removal of the signs has incensed Victorian Labor, which has been trying to stave off Greens candidate Campbell Gome in the battleground seat.
In a statement, a Labor spokesman accused Darebin council of "dirty tricks".
"This is blatant political interference from the Greens-dominated City of Darebin council, who are acting just like the Liberal-controlled Bayside Council in Goldstein during this year's federal election," he said.
"People have the right to campaign and seek community support without craven political interference from local councils.
"They should stick to their day job."
Greens leader Samantha Ratnam knocked back suggestions that her party directed the council to remove the signs.
"Certainly not," Ms Ratnam said.
"When Labor gets desperate, they get dirty. From what I know of what's occurred, it's a matter for council and I urge all candidates and parties to abide by local laws."
She rejected suggestions that Darebin Council was "dominated" by the Greens.
"These are misleading characterisations and comments that don't go into how local governments deliberate on these matters," she said.
The case returns to the Supreme Court tomorrow.
