A SUPPORTER of a protest exclusion zone was threatened with expulsion from Monday night’s Albury Council meeting for holding up a sign stating “Stop harassment of legal abortions!”.
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The sign, handwritten on the back of A4 paper by Murray Geddes, upset councillor Darren Cameron.
He asked mayor Kevin Mack if he could “enforce the council’s meeting code of practice and evict that man at the back of the room who continually keeps showing some sort of handwritten rubbish on a sign”.
Cr Mack allowed Mr Geddes to stay but told him to put his sign down.
“I just wanted to emphasise there is harassment going on and the community should find a way of avoiding that,” Mr Geddes told The Border Mail later.
He had run-ins with fellow councillors David Thurley and John Stuchbery.
At one point, Cr Stuchbery pointed out excluding protesters from within 150 metres of the clinic equated to 0.02 per cent of the Albury Council area.
Cr Cameron said “I would remind Cr Stuchbery that the concentration camps of World War II were very small in relation to the area of Europe”, resulting in jeers from the gallery.
The Labor-aligned councillor’s performance disappointed onlooker Kate Gibson, who supports a safe zone at the clinic.
“I think Cr Cameron really embarrassed himself,” she said.
“I think he was offensive.
“I think a lot of people need to watch the livestream and see how he treats half of his constituency.”
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