PAST Albury mayor Amanda Duncan-Strelec is calling on the public to bankroll fresh legal action against Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate.
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The former councillor has set up a Go Fund Me web page seeking $220,000 in donations for costs linked to litigation against Cr Tate.
Mrs Duncan-Strelec and her husband David Strelec sought damages from Cr Tate in the NSW Supreme Court in 2010 over a disputed Lavington land deal.
The court decided in Cr Tate’s favour and the Strelecs were ordered to pay costs.
Now Mrs Duncan-Strelec wants to appeal the Supreme Court’s decision and is pleading for public assistance.
“I have decided to ask for help through this website, in the way of asking for money to help fund, in the first instance, the legal costs for my appeal,” she wrote on her Good Fund Me page.
“I will then also need the funding required for the retrial that will hopefully follow a successful appeal.”
The former mayor refers to backing from Albury-raised barrister Charles Waterstreet who she describes as a “life-time family friend”.
Mrs Duncan-Strelec told The Border Mail that Mr Waterstreet had said an appeal would cost $60,000 and a new trial $150,000 to $160,000.
“Anyone who supports me in this and donates to it, when the trial is over and we win and recover the costs they will be repaid the donation,” she said.
“I don’t see it as asking for money for no return – to me it’s an investment in justice.”
Quizzed about whether the time to appeal had elapsed, Mrs Duncan-Strelec was guarded.
She hinted she expected her circumstances would allow her to appeal.
The NSW Supreme Court website states that “generally” appeals must be filed within 28 days of a court decision.
Mrs Duncan-Strelec said issues were not fully explored in the trial because she had to to represent herself.
She believes if a barrister acted for her she would be able to make out her allegations of inappropriate behaviour by Cr Tate.
Mrs Duncan-Strelec was made bankrupt via her legal fight and in 2015 she was put on a 12-month good behaviour bond after being found guilty of contempt of court.
The offence related to her publication of a defamatory website which targeted Cr Tate.
NSW Supreme Court justice Patricia Bergin found Mrs Duncan-Strelec’s action arose from "deep dissatisfaction" at the outcome of the court case which saw the Strelecs ordered to pay $305,000.
Mrs Duncan-Strelec was an Albury councillor from 1991 to 2012.
She cited her battle against bipolar disease for not seeking re-election.
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