Wyndham City councillors have unanimously passed a motion of no confidence against Mayor Preet Singh, as pressure continues over his decision to provide a character reference for a man later convicted of child sex offences.
The motion was carried at a special council meeting on Monday night, with all 10 councillors present voting in favour.
The vote follows Cr Singh’s statement last week in which he said he would “shortly return to the Office of the Mayor” and rejected calls for his resignation.
“I want to state the following without any ambiguity: I have done nothing illegal, criminal, or unlawful,” Cr Singh said.
“I do not, and will never, condone or support child sexual abuse. At no point did I suggest that what occurred was acceptable.”
He has maintained that the reference was written in April 2024 when he was a private citizen and “not connected in any way to the office of the mayor or councillor”.
At Monday night’s meeting, Cr Singh chaired the opening before declaring a conflict of interest and leaving the chamber.
Councillor Peter Maynard, who called the special meeting, said the decision was not taken lightly and reflected a united position within council.
“Tonight’s special meeting calling for the resignation of the Mayor was not something I took pleasure in calling or being part of, this meeting was unanimously supported by all 10 councillors present,” Cr Maynard said.
Under the Local Government Act, a no-confidence motion does not require a mayor to resign. Cr Singh remains in office unless he chooses to step aside or councillors move to elect a new mayor.
“It is extremely disappointing that it has come to this, since this issue came to light, every one of my councillor colleagues has been working, behind the scenes, in the interests of good governance, to convince the Mayor to resign.”
“We have spoken to him. We have written to him. We have been united in our call for him to resign, we have also written to the previous local government minister.”
Cr Maynard said that while no laws had been broken, the situation raised concerns about leadership.
“While we can all acknowledge that the Mayor has done nothing illegal, he has shown an extremely concerning error of judgement, something that we simply cannot tolerate in the leader of our Council and something that is morally reprehensible to me as a father as a community leader and as a human being.”
He said councillors had limited options under existing legislation.
“It is frustrating that, as a Council, our hands are tied in these circumstances as the legislation provides very limited options to remove a Mayor elected for 1 year and none of them apply to this example.”
“Even though this motion unanimously passed tonight, the Mayor has no obligation to stand down. All we can do by passing this motion is put on the Council’s formal record, our strong desire to elect a better leader for our Council and our community.”
“I again implore the Mayor to do the right thing and resign immediately.”
Cr Singh has previously acknowledged what he described as an “error of judgement” and said he had apologised to those affected, including the victim and their family.
The issue has prompted protests in Truganina in recent weeks, with residents calling for the mayor to step down.
Under the Local Government Act, a no-confidence motion does not require a mayor to resign. Cr Singh remains in office unless he chooses to step aside or councillors move to elect a new mayor.
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