Glen Eira City Council on Tuesday voted to close three council-run early learning centres when a person in the public gallery threw an egg towards councillors,hitting a table and breaking onto Cr Jim Magee.
An egg is thrown at councillors after a controversial vote to close three childcare centres.
Councillors Sue Pennicuik and Simone Zmood were also splattered. Magee said he received first aid to remove eggshell from his eye. The egging brought the council meeting to an abrupt end.
Victoria Police on Saturday confirmed it was probing the incident.
“Police have been told that an egg was thrown at a group of people after the conclusion of a meeting at a Glen Eira Road premises about 8.30pm,” a spokesperson said.
“The circumstances surrounding the incident are yet to be established.”
Former Glen Eira mayor Jim Magee poses at Caulfield Racecourse in 2015.Wayne Taylor
Tensions erupted over the council vote as some local families had been campaigning to keep its Caulfield,Carnegie and Murrumbeena childcare centres open since the council revealed its
Magee,who voted to close the older centres,said they were no longer a community requirement and were losing almost $600,000 a year.
He said council studies had shown there were 1.3 childcare positions available in Glen Eira for every child under four years old.
Cries of “shame” could be heard from the public gallery when the council voted 5-3 to shut the centres,leaving some families scrambling to find other vacancies before the new year amid claims the move was sudden and not consultative.
Magee said the blowback after the decision had been confronting.
“I had one person ring me and say,‘I know which way you’re gonna vote and I just hope you die before you get to the chamber to actually vote’,” he said.
Glen Eira City Council chief executive Rebecca McKenzie condemned the egging and said reports of ongoing harassment of councillors following the vote were “extremely disappointing”.
“We are actively supporting Victoria Police’s investigation into the incident. We are also conducting our own investigation to assess ways we can keep our meetings safe for everyone to attend,” she said in a statement on Friday.
More than 100 children and parents to protest a Melbourne council's plans to shut local early learning centres and kindergartens.
Magee said Glen Eira Council had moved next week’s meeting online in response.
“I’ve been doing this for 15 years,this has never ever happened in the past,” he said.
“There’s already heightened anxiety about council meetings given we are Caulfield;given we are the largest Jewish community in Australia and the current situation in the Middle East. There’s already a tension around open council meetings. Tuesday night just brought to a whole new level.”
In April, the head of Victoria’s peak body for local government believed councils were grossly unprepared for the type of vitriol being hurled at them during meetings and recommended closing public galleries to move meetings entirely online.
Escalating violence at council meetings across the state has also this year.The Age that anti-government conspiracy group My Place was also targeting councils in a campaign of disruption and influence.
Get the day’s breaking news,entertainment ideas and a long read to enjoy.