EDITORIAL: Barkly Regional Council Mayor Jeffrey McLaughlin is under investigation by police for the fourth time in 13 months. A fourth time that we know of anyway, and once again, he refuses to respect his role in the community and stand down.
Two videos first published by the NT Independent this week show him sitting on an Indigenous child while another man threatens to kill the boy while pushing his head down forcefully with a booted foot, as the Mayor swears at the child and keeps him restrained.
National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds told the NT Independent after viewing the first video that while she did not have the full context, the actions of the men were “extremely distressing”.
What she saw was the “physical and psychological maltreatment of a child”, which needed to be investigated by the appropriate authorities, while also “including assessment of risks to the physical and mental wellbeing of this child”.
The Barkly Mayor being the Barkly Mayor, of course, came out with his best Bart Simpson impersonation, providing us all with the equivalent of ‘Don’t have a cow man’.
In a supposed statement to the NT News – which also happened to be posted on his Facebook page – published the day after the NT Independent broke the story, he said he made a “legal” citizen’s arrest of a youth with reasonable force, who was attempting to break into his house in the middle of the day.
He said the actions were not inconsistent with being Mayor and that it was disappointing the footage was released for “self-evidently political purposes”.
If his actions were consistent with the actions of a Mayor, why didn’t he self-publish it on his mayoral Facebook page?
You know, to show the community what a great job he was doing, literally tackling the youth crime epidemic single-handedly?
Instead, his latest behaviour is indicative of his previous problems, dating back at least 18 months, which has been brought to light by both the NT Independent and the ABC, but unfortunately not by the local Tennant Creek and District Times, seemingly because the council thought it was good idea to employ its owner, editor, and reporter (all the one person) as its media advisor and executive assistant to the mayor and chief executive officer.
Mr McLaughlin is a master of the retrospective, ad-hoc explanation for his behaviour with each telling tending to become more elaborate, similar to some old NT politicians we can recall and a former US president currently facing charges.
Who could forget when Jeffrey said he was on medicinal cannabis in the days following his second drug driving charge, while the first one, five months earlier, resulted in cannabis plants being seized from his home? If we follow his logic, he claimed he had a medical prescription for weed but was somehow authorised to grow and self-supply the illegal substance.
Funny that he did not rely on that argument in court and instead chose to – as Mayor – accuse NT Police of misconduct and “trumping” up the charges.
He also once told the ABC that the former Barkly CEO had her leave extended during a crisis in council that she – and he – had reportedly caused, because she was doing such a great job. They brought in an acting CEO from outside in the weeks following and the real CEO never returned to her job.
So, it is of no surprise that when the ABC published a story based on an “interview” over the weekend, after the NT News, McLaughlin’s story had changed from him protecting his family and his children in the NT News article, to he was “there for the child’s welfare” in the ABC article.
And: “We did everything by the tee.”
Defending himself firstly in the NT News, his story was: “Whilst the spontaneous remarks and conduct of the other adult male in the footage can rightly be described as inappropriate, they are not mine and I did not encourage them”.
By the time he spoke to the ABC, he was claiming he tried to stop the other man from kicking the boy and that he had been “working heavily” with the police (who he had accused of corruption in court). He also claimed he had undertaken “restorative justice” with the boy’s family.
When we asked the Mayor on Friday why he didn’t stop the other man from abusing and attacking the child, he hung up the phone. It appeared he hadn’t formulated a reason for that bit of inconvenience at the time.
But his story later expanded, from not condoning the other man’s actions to trying to stop him. Next, he’ll be claiming that he had to keep the 12-year-old Indigenous child pinned to the ground to protect the boy’s life. (Wait for it, it’s coming once Jeffrey gets in contact with a real lawyer).
By the time Saturday rolled around, the Mayor decided to go with the line that the videos showed just 24 seconds out of a 20-minute session of him sitting on a child, that was taken out of context.
Saying “I was taken out of context” is the last bastion of the scoundrel.
But with the Mayor’s fantasy thinking, he doesn’t always see the implications for him of his excuses. Remember the medicinal cannabis line? Or the extended leave of the CEO because she was doing such a great job, who was clearly pushed out by council?
What he introduces now is the idea that he sat on the child while the other man yelled at him and pushed his boot down on his head, did not go for a short time, but rather 20 minutes. 20 minutes! Are we supposed to believe the other 19.5 minutes shows there was no verbal or physical abuse going on?
There are people who have publicly drawn attention to the good work he has done in Tennant Creek, work that he should be congratulated for. But good acts do not make him immune from the consequences of his latest actions. And there is no disputing some of those actions that are now on video.
The role of Mayor is that of leader at the centre of the community. It is a role that should be elevated above any particular person at the time, who only acts as caretaker of the role that must be respected by the entire community.
McLaughlin needs to stand down as Mayor while his actions are investigated. For the good of the wider community and his own good.
To stretch the Simpsons theme a bit further, it appears every day is ‘Do Whatever You Feel Like Day’ for Jeffrey McLaughlin, who seems to think the rest of the Territory and the country isn’t watching.
Poor old TFC…in the national media for all the wrong reasons AGAIN.
Mayor Jeff needs to go. Eliot McAdam would steer a worthwhile and steady ship.