Councillor De Stefani received a Council Code of Conduct complaint against him after he allegedly made defamatory comments against a Tenterfield resident in the March ordinary meeting during a discussion on fluoridisation.

It was alleged that Councillor De Stefani made adverse comments on the health of a resident and the circumstances which may have led to the medical condition. It was alleged by a complainant that Councillor De Stefani referred to the health condition as self inflicted and further that Council should not be responsible for protecting his health by not adding fluoride in the town’s water system.

Councillor De Stefani denied to have ever made the remarks that were attributed to him in the complaint. He acknowledged that he contributed to the debate but said that he made no reference to a particular resident and that his views had been misrepresented to the resident.

A sole reviewer was called to investigate the complaint in line with the requirements of the Tenterfield Shire Council’s 2009 Code of Conduct. The report, which was tabled at the postponed June ordinary meeting held on Monday night, found that Councillor De Stefani had not breached the terms of the code.

In his findings the reviewer said that there could be no judgement either way because there was direct conflicting statements between the two parties. He also said that any evidence included in the complaint submitted by the resident who was the subject of the alleged remarks was hearsay because the resident was not present at the March ordinary meeting and was based on third party evidence.

The reviewer concluded that the allegations against Councillor De Stefani were not upheld and that there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations.

He also said that it was important to note that councillors and the community recognise that the Code of Conduct is not intended to be a “weapon” to restrict robust debate conducted in an appropriate manner which may arise in talks on controversial issues such as fluoridisation.