Council
12 June, 2026
Council has ‘serious problem’ with communications: Smith
Wingecarribee Shire councillor Nicole Smith has conceded on three separate occasions during an interview with Graeme Day on Radio 2ST that council has a problem with communications.
Wingecarribee Shire councillor Nicole Smith has conceded on three separate occasions during an interview with Graeme Day on Radio 2ST that council has a problem with communications.
On one of those occasions she described the problem as “really serious”.
Cr Smith was being interviewed over a Notice of Motion she is tabling at Wednesday’s meeting looking to strengthen council’s social media policy.
In the background to her Notice of Motion, Cr Smith said people were becoming increasingly reliant on “angertainment and online forums run by faceless social media accounts with hidden agendas”.
She said it was a “national, state and very Highlands issue”.
The Notice of Motion recommends, in part, that council “not engage through closed or private Facebook groups”.
“What we’re finding in this online world is that social media is becoming more important than ever and we’ve got these challenges where ‘angertainment’ thrives online and misinformation also thrives online,” Cr Smith told Mr Day.
“So it (the Notice of Motion) is really trying to call that out and really shine a light on these issues.”
Cr Smith said online forums “run by people we don’t know whom” were becoming increasingly popular but were moderated by ‘faceless’ people with unknown agendas.
“They are faceless and by that I mean not the people who comment on them but the people who run them.”
She said there was no fact-checking and when people tried to challenge something they were blocked.
She said she had “real examples” of this happening with a local Facebook forum that has more 11,000 members.
Mr Day said residents were confused because council voted in favour of a communications policy late last year that was primarily dependent on the use of digital and social media platforms.
He said council couldn’t turn around now and say ‘We don’t like this, we’re going to shut you down’ because people were making negative comments in an online forum.
Cr Smith said she wasn’t trying to shut down any online forums – she just wants open and transparent debate.
“I’m putting myself out there and I’m getting attacked for saying ‘Let’s have open debate’.
“This stuff is really dividing us.”
Mr Day said people in public life should expect criticism – “particularly when people aren’t too happy about roads and this and that”.
He said he popped up on “quite a few” Facebook pages because of things he has said on radio but he takes them on board because he is in the public eye.
“I accept that and I move on,” he said.
Cr Smith said she simply wasn’t prepared to engage with people she didn’t know and questioned whether the moderators of one local forum, Highlands Opinion, actually used real names or even lived in the local area.
“I would like to have a discussion with them on your radio show,” she told Mr Day.
“If you know them, I would love to debate stuff with them.”
Cr Smith said she wanted council to engage with people online but she wanted the debate to be open and transparent.
She said good debate was important but “people getting facts and real information” was equally as important.
She said she had “direct examples” of people questioning things on Highlands Opinion only to have their comments deleted.
“I understand that council is getting a lot of heat at the moment and a lot of harassment, but I also understand that when you turn to the public and say ‘I’m not going to listen to 11,000 faceless people” that’s going to upset a few people,” Mr Day said.
However Cr Smith said it was the moderators of Highlands Opinion who were faceless – not the members.
“It’s not the people in the community I’m calling faceless – that would be crazy,” Cr Smith said.
Cr Rachel Russell said she would be tabling her own Notice of Motion at Wednesday’s meeting calling on council to post out information about the proposed rate hike with the next rates notice. · The agenda for Wednesday’s meeting can be found online at www.wsc.nse.gov.au
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