A no-confidence motion against a Pilbara councillor who made headlines last month for his glowing praise of Russia’s elections has fallen flat.
Town of Port Hedland councillors gathered for a special council meeting on Monday night to vote on the motion of no confidence against councillor Adrian McRae.
Adrian McRae speaking in Russia.
McRae travelled to Moscow at his own expense earlier this year as part of an international delegation to scrutinise the Russian elections, which delivered President Vladimir Putin 87.8 per cent of the vote – the highest-ever result in Russia’s post-Soviet history.
The Port Hedland councillor then appeared in a video on Russia’s Channel One State News congratulating Putin on his landslide victory, and later defended the elections as “ridiculously transparent”.
Monday’s no-confidence motion would “demonstrate to the Town of Port Hedland community that Cr McRae’s public comments in relation to the Russian election are his own personal view and are not endorsed by the Town of Port Hedland Council”, the meeting’s agenda stated.
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However, the motion was unsuccessful, with a majority of councillors backing in McRae, six votes to three.
McRae would have remained in council even if the motion had been successful, as there are no powers available to councils to remove councillors from office under the Local Government Act.
Port Hedland Mayor, Peter Carter told 6PR on Tuesday morning he brought the motion because he believed “it was the right thing to do”.
Defending his trip earlier this month, McRae said Russians were proud of their democracy, and that he worked as a scrutineer alongside representatives from US congress and cosmonauts from the International Space Station.