Mayor Josh Gilligan suspended for calling predecessor a ‘raging lunatic’
The mayor of a council outside Melbourne has been suspended for 30 days after an independent arbitrator found he had abused power by calling his predecessor a “raging lunatic” in a social media post.
Wyndham City mayor Josh Gilligan will also need to issue a written apology to former three-term mayor Kim McAliney following her September 2025 Facebook post.
“This angry lunatic recently announced that he would not pay his municipal dues… he was sprouting the anti-government propaganda you usually see in the sovereign citizen movement,” he wrote at the time.
Gilligan said he would call on the council to release “confidential minutes to uncover any suspected contributing factors” linked to his resignation in 2020 and that he resigned because of the “embarrassment it brought upon himself”.
Arbitrator Simon Heath found the remarks breached Victoria’s Model Councilor Code of Conduct and that the “angry frenzied” comment towards McAliney was “derogatory, derogatory, abusive and derogatory”.
“No evidence has been presented to show that Ms. McAliney’s resignation from the city five years ago was for improper reasons,” Heath wrote in his findings.
Heath said Gilligan defended the post, claiming it was justified because McAliney was a “political activist” with “factional tendencies” and had displayed “obsessive behavior” towards him, among other reasons.
Gilligan was also investigated twice for misconduct in 2022, and Heath noted that in one of those incidents he was found to have failed to treat another council member with respect.
Gilligan was not sanctioned for this violation, but the arbitrator for the 2022 finding wrote: “If this behavior continues…a sanction would be appropriate.”
Gilligan has been contacted for comment. In his obligatory apology, the mayor said his comments did not comply with the code of conduct and “this should not have been said.”
“I take responsibility for my words and regret the hurt and pain they caused Ms. McAliney. I apologize to her.”
His suspension begins Wednesday and his apology must remain on his Facebook page for 30 days.
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Angus Delaney is a reporter for The Age. Email him at angus.delaney@theage.com.au or contact him securely on Signal at Angusdelaney.31.Connect via email.
