“The tribunal does not consider that a period of suspension is appropriate,or is required to provide a clear message either to[Cr] Byrne,or to councillors generally,that his misconduct was unacceptable,” tribunal principal member Linda Pearson said in her decision published on Monday.
“To suspend[Cr] Byrne from civic office for a period would not only sanction him,but would deprive his constituents of the benefit of his assistance as councillor,and representation in council administration.”
The ruling follows a hearing last month in which Cr Byrne said he had had an “incorrect impression” of what was meant by a significant,non-pecuniary conflict of interest when the breaches occurred and conceded he “didn’t have the understanding that I should have”.
“I accept I got it wrong. I did think I was acting in the right way but I wasn’t. It was a bad error from me and I need to learn from it,” he said.
In response to Monday’s decision,Cr Byrne said he welcomed the decision and was “completely focused on supporting the inner west community to get through the lockdown.”
In May the tribunal upheld claims by the Office of Local Government that Cr Byrne failed to declare a significant,non-pecuniary interest when he put forward a motion to force Crs Colin Hesse and Pauline Lockie to apologise over posts he claimed painted him and other councillors as corrupt.
Ms Pearson said Cr Byrne “had an interest in wanting to vindicate his reputation and public perception of his character,which he considered had been impugned or harmed by the Facebook posts.”