ROBOCOP PATROLS

HERMANN Vorster, nicknamed Robocop by residents for his efforts in fighting hoons, this week became the first councillor to dob in a rival under new anti-corruption laws.

We all learned that during a development application for a Vodafone telephone tower, William Owen-Jones had shares in Telstra. He saw no major conflict and stayed in the chamber.

Some colleagues see it as a cheap shot against a councillor who is one of five in the council doghouse and not part of Mayor Tom Tate’s leadership group.

“He could have approached William beforehand (outside the chamber),” a council insider says.

“They just want to make out these laws are unworkable. They want to make it appear like bad legislative reform. He (Cr Vorster) chose to pontificate and make a big thing out of it.”