Joondalup councillors will consider the contents of their liquor cabinet at next week’s meeting at the behest of disgruntled locals who don’t believe they should pick up the $1000 tab.
However, according to Mayor Daniel Kingston, more than half the elected members don’t even drink in the elected members lounge, where residents want the booze banned from.
A list of drinks provided in the minutes from the May 26 ordinary council meeting shows the contents of the bar is not full of top-shelf tipples.
And none of them, other than a bottle of Sherry, has been purchased since 2024.
At the council’s agenda briefing session on Tuesday night, it was revealed that approximately $1000 is spent on alcohol and refreshments per year.
But locals were adamant that booze paid for by ratepayers should not be offered to councillors in the elected members lounge at any time.
“Ratepayers asked me to put the petition together. I drafted one. We received over 900 signatures in literally eight days, no effort, on social media, no door knocking, none of those things that I would normally do,” resident Suzanne Apps said.
“The clear message from ratepayers is that they do not want to subsidise alcohol, including the wine, the beer, and the top-shelf spirits in the councillors’ private lounge after meetings and after briefing sessions.
“On the argument around just how much it costs, they don’t want it to continue at any price.”
The petition, which closed on Monday, called on the council to “vote to end ratepayer-funded alcohol consumption in the elected members’ lounge outside of formal functions and events.”
As of the closing date, it had 894 signatures.
Fellow local Faye Gilbert told council members the community “cannot believe” they are still debating self-service alcohol in the councillors lounge, a year after it was initially brought up.
She said that councillors should be able to work in an “alcohol-free environment”.
“Your own policy says alcohol must not be consumed while undertaking the role, if that rule is being followed, then this alcohol serves no official purpose. It is simply for personal enjoyment,” Gilbert said.
“Using public funds to supply alcohol in this way is outdated and inappropriate. I have worked with state government boards responsible for multi-million dollar portfolios, they operate effectively without alcohol, just tea, coffee, juice and water, and they do fine.
“They couldn’t justify spending public money on a luxury like alcohol. End this culture of entitlement and focus on the job you are elected to do.”
An alcohol holdings stocktake was undertaken on April 1 in relation to spirits, and April 29 for beer and wine.
In the report to council, it noted beer and wine are served to guests at select civic events, including community appreciation functions and citizenship ceremonies.
“Any remaining stock from these events is returned to the bar and may be utilised at subsequent functions. Fortified wines, liqueurs and some spirits may also be used in cooking, including in popular desserts and sauces,” the report read
In response to residents’ questions, Kingston said seven of the 13 elected members do not drink.
Kingston noted that alongside himself, councillors Adrian Hill, Lewis Hutton, Denise Mercer, Bettina Gould, Christopher May and Rohan O’Neill all do not consume alcoholic beverages in the elected members lounge, with the majority opting not to attend the lounge in general.
Mercer asked a question to chief executive Craig Lloyd – who recently started with the City of Joondalup at the end of May – whether any previous councils he worked for had a policy around alcohol.
Lloyd, who was previously a chief executive at two Victorian councils – the City of Whittlesea in Victoria and the Murrindindi Shire Council – said both were opposed to alcohol.
“My immediate previous council had a policy of no alcohol on the premises. There were very rare exceptions to that, which were things like the annual arts awards, and that was for one drink per person,” he said.
“Outside of that, alcohol wasn’t consumed in our venues … there certainly wasn’t alcohol provided to either staff or elected members,” he said.
Council members will vote on whether to retain the current policy that allows alcohol in the elected member lounge, or to ditch the booze altogether at its ordinary council meeting on June 23.
