Gladigau, Mrs K.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (15:29): I rise today to hopefully bring to an end a sorry, sorry saga in my electorate of Hammond. In October last year, I raised this matter of online bullying and false accusations by a failed Xenophon SA-Best candidate who ran for the seat of Hammond at the 2018 state election and also ran for the Mid Murray Council at last November's local government elections and for the federal seat of Barker at the recent federal election—all unsuccessfully.

Kelly Gladigau has finally issued a formal apology for comments made on social media in 2018 regarding the activities of previous Mid Murray Council deputy mayor, Kelly Kuhn. The formal apology from Kelly Gladigau is, and I quote:

In August 2018 I posted on Facebook a series of questions concerning expenditure by Kelly Kuhn in her position as Deputy Mayor of the Mid Murray Council. I recognise that these questions, and the manner in which they were framed, impugned the reputation of Ms Kuhn, the Mid Murray Council, and the office of Deputy Mayor. I understand that this has caused hurt and distress. That was not my intention. I now accept that the expenditure I questioned was properly incurred and accounted for by Kelly. I unreservedly apologise for my misunderstanding.

A statement in response to this from Kelly Kuhn, former Mid Murray Council deputy mayor, is as follows, and I quote:

I am relieved Ms Gladigau has finally provided a formal full and unqualified apology, acknowledging the anguish her actions have caused during the past 11 months.

People in public positions should not be subjected to misleading accusations with no right of reply, and I'm incredibly disappointed to have this tarnish my otherwise rewarding time at Mid Murray Council. The hurt caused by inappropriate use of personal images of my children in a bid to fuel this improper allegation caused great upset to my family, and the community in which we live.

This comes at a time of global effort against cyber bullying, so to be victims of this from a person seeking positions in all three tiers of government is deeply concerning. The best apology I can hope for is changed behaviour from all keyboard warriors.

A statement in response to this from the Mid Murray Council Mayor, Dave Burgess, is below, and I quote:

The Council welcomes the formal apology by Ms Gladigau for comments made on social media in 2018, regarding the activities of Ms Kuhn during her time as the Deputy Mayor.

We are incredibly saddened to see the impact of Ms Gladigau’s comments on Kelly and her family.

Council has a zero-tolerance stance against online bullying, and any other behaviour which may lead to the hurt or distress of its Elected Members and staff, or damage the reputation of Council.

Council supports of all of its Elected Members who give up their time and make great sacrifices to help deliver much-needed and valuable services to the community, and they should be able to feel safe and confident that they can do this without fear of personal attacks.

This is a timely reminder to all members of the public regarding responsible and respectful online behaviour.

There will always be passionate debate when it comes to local government politics, we understand this. However, there is a respectful and proper way to go about it, and we will not tolerate otherwise.

For my part, I have known Kelly Kuhn for many years—in fact, for decades. She is a woman of absolute integrity—I stress, absolute integrity—and I know only too well the pain this saga has caused Kelly Kuhn and her family. This disgraceful behaviour should never be acceptable in any political contest. As I said in my previous speech on this matter, and I quote:

Kelly Gladigau seeks to succeed based on defamation and slander due to a lack of ability and should never hold public office.

Mr GEE: Mr Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the house.

A quorum having been formed: