On August 25, Hepburn Shire Council met for the first time since mayor Tony Clark and four other councillors had private criminal charges against them dismissed. The much-covered charges were brought forward by a disgruntled local businessman, and were described by the mayor as "a bit like a Damocles axe over the head".

The background: In July, five of Hepburn Shire’s seven councillors - Shirley Cornish, Lesley Hewitt, Pat Hockey, Don Henderson and mayor Tony Clark - were stood down after local businessman David Penman filed private criminal charges. This left only councillors Tim Drylie and Brian Hood able to serve. 

Penman also filed criminal charges against former CEO Bradley Thomas.

What cause? Penman told the ABC he filed the charges due to his belief councillors voted on the budget “before they knew the true financial position and that means now ratepayers are carrying the risk”.

What they said: Mayor Clark said the charges did not come entirely as a surprise, stating “there had been a lot of interaction leading to the charges”. 

When the charges were dropped, Penman told reporters outside the courtroom he would “accept the DPP’s decision”, although he thought the “charges were strong, but obviously politically sensitive”. 

The toll: Mayor Clark said from a personal perspective, it was “incredibly stressful”. 

🗣️ “The real challenge was these were personal criminal charges, not the organisation but as individuals for effectively doing our job,” he said. “It was horrendous.” 

He said it was "significantly disruptive” to the function of the council.

“We have never faced this issue before,” the Mayor told the Brolga. “For $26.50, any individual can go and lay a charge. There’s no burden of proof required.”

Mayor Clark said the incident is the product of “a loophole that unfortunately the state government made possible”.