‘I don’t trust him’: Sydney councillor unleashes on Mayor Ned Mannoun

3 hours ago 3

Liverpool councillor Peter Ristevski has told an inquiry he does not hate his long-time political rival, Liberal Mayor Ned Mannoun, but lost confidence in his leadership after a string of disagreements.

The NSW Office of Local Government inquiry into Liverpool City Council has heard Mannoun’s tense relationship with Ristevski, a Liberal-turned-independent councillor, had increasingly been frustrating the operations of the south-west Sydney council since last year’s local council poll.

Liverpool councillor Peter Ristevski gives evidence at the NSW Office of Local Government inquiry on Monday.

The inquiry into alleged maladministration and dysfunction at the local government on Monday heard Ristevski was first elected to the council on the Liberal Party ticket in 2012. He had started to vote with Labor and independent councillors following a series of arguments that had soured his relationship with Mannoun about mid-2015.

Asked by counsel assisting the inquiry, Trish McDonald, SC, whether his relationship with Mannoun had become “antagonistic” and “hostile” following that first term on the council, Ristevski said:

“I don’t know if you can use those strong terms, but I lost confidence in him.

“I guess I don’t trust him. It’s nothing personal, [though] it probably looks that way.

“I look at the way he leads, and I disagree.”

Ristevski, who did not stand in the 2021 local council poll, was re-elected as an independent in 2024.

McDonald said there had been evidence aired in the inquiry “along the lines that … you and the mayor hate each other”. Ristevski disagreed but said, “from the outside … it might look that way”.

“I think [it’s about] vigorous debate. I argue my point, he argues his point. Basically, we argue our points quite passionately, but not to antagonise, but I guess to get our point across over the other.”

Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun last year after Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig announced a public inquiry into the council.

“In today’s society, people are afraid to debate, everyone wants to conform, so when someone comes out and debates passionately about an issue, it might look like there’s hate, but it has nothing to do with it.

“It’s like a football game, you might tackle them very hard, but at the end of the game you just move on.”

Asked whether “vigorous” debates on council matters ever turned personal, Ristevski responded: “I guess being elected officials, everything’s personal, as long as you don’t cross the line into family”.

In her opening remarks, McDonald said Ristevski’s use of social media had caused concern among council staff and councillors in January and February. His posts had been subject to various code of conduct complaints, and had given rise to “issues about work health and safety” within the council.

The inquiry also heard Mannoun had brought a failed defamation suit against Ristevski. The case had hinged on comments on the Liverpool Council Shenanigans Facebook page in 2022 that referred to Mannoun as a “crim” and a “grub”. In December, the NSW District Court found Mannoun had not satisfied a mandatory requirement to show the comment had caused serious harm to his reputation.

Questioned on Monday about his social media use, Ristevski said he had two Facebook pages, but councillors had “absolutely no training” on the topic, “so I thought there were no boundaries”.

He said the induction for new councillors last year had “felt like a propaganda exercise”, with the council’s directors “trying to sell me something rather than educate me”.

“As we speak here today, my style has changed, obviously through the code of conduct [complaints] that have been raised.

“I look at them from a positive perspective, as a self-audit, and have put provisions in place to change the style.”

Ristevski argued councillors were subject to “restrictive provisions” for social media use compared to state and federal MPs, which he “just can’t get my head around, especially when they’re dealing with a lot more serious issues than local government issues … it needs to be even across the board”.

“State and federal parliamentarians, they can target a specific MP, but they don’t get into trouble, even when it brings parliament into disrepute, which I just can’t get my head around.”

Ristevski’s evidence continues on Monday afternoon. Mannoun is yet to appear at the inquiry.

The inquiry has been running for more than 30 hearing days since it started in July. It has been examining councillors’ conduct as well as its handling of finances, property purchases, staff employment and more than $150 million in state government grants for infrastructure projects.

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