QUEANBEYAN’S indigenous deputy mayor Esma Livermore has withdrawn disparaging comments she made about colleagues who opposed the mayoral minute supporting of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

During Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council’s (QPRC) meeting on Thursday night (September 28) Cr Livermore said she was “disgusted” that some councillors had voted against the mayoral minute calling on council to support the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

“To hear fellow councillors not even support the thought of this, possibly coming here and just shutting it down really shows that… it just really disgusted me to be honest,” Cr Livermore said.

The mayoral minute – put forward by Kenrick Winchester – recommended that council: “accept the invitation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, hears and supports the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice to be enshrined in the Constitution and for a referendum on this matter.”

It was carried seven to four, amid a strong debate.

Cr Mareeta Grundy, who voted against the motion, called for a point of order requesting that the deputy mayor withdraw her remark.

“I would like the councillor to withdraw the suggestion that she is disgusted by her fellow councillors putting forward a polite but alternative point of view,” Cr Grundy said.

Uncertain how to manage the situation, Mayor Winchester sought advice from QPRC CEO Rebecca Ryan.

“Perhaps the deputy mayor was emotional in her display of feeling towards another councillor and perhaps the word disgusted might have been used by a more appropriate word,” said Ryan.

Cr Livermore, a Bigambul woman, said she would withdraw her comments.

Earlier in the debate, Cr Grundy – one of two councillors who spoke against the recommendation –said the motion wasn’t appropriate for council to put forward.

“This recommendation effectively says that this council supports the call for a First Nations voice to be a part of the Constitution, this recommendation declares a position of the council on a matter of national political significance and speaks to a preferred outcome of a national referendum, further it announces that this council will develop policies and laws aligned to the outcome,” she said.

“How can this be appropriate when the pivotal recommendation has not been constructed, yet to be conducted and the outcome of which is yet to be determined.?

“How is this within the jurisdiction of the council, ratepayers want councils – at the very least – to concentrate on providing the basics first, like functional roads for example?”

Speaking in support of the motion, Cr Livermore – the council’s first female Aboriginal representative – refuted claims that the matter wasn’t council business.

“It is our business, and it should be brought to council because council is the grassroots of this country and we are the foundation of how we educate and support all Australians,” she said.

“Comparing the Uluru Statement to fixing our roads, we have had a country of 250 years of colonisation that has affected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the policies that have been put in place have destroyed our culture, families, and identities.

“The Uluru Statement is putting the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people back in control of what that would look like.”