NSW Councillor Accused of Bullying CEO Claims Court is 'Sanitising' His Statements

A New South Wales councillor accused of bullying his council's CEO has accused the industrial relations court of "sanitising his statements".

The Development and Environmental Professionals' Association (DEPA) has brought a stop bullying application against Cr Andrew Thaler on behalf of Snowy Monaro Regional Council (SMRC) CEO Noreen Vu.

It's one of the first instances of a stop bullying application against a local government councillor being heard since the jurisdiction was introduced in the Industrial Relations Commission last July.

In the application lodged with the commission published by DEPA, Ms Vu states that Cr Thaler's abuse "has been consistent and persistent and I have been given no indication that he will cease".

The application alleges Cr Thaler sent multiple emails from November 2025 up until February this year and made multiple social media videos about Ms Vu and her conduct in her role as CEO.

The extracts accuse Ms Vu of being unreasonably hostile in her attitude towards Cr Thaler, accusing her of lying, possible criminal conduct and of obfuscation, often by using the phrase 'obVuscation'.

Giving evidence on Monday afternoon, Ms Vu said that Cr Thaler's correspondence with her was "demeaning".

"He bullies me about my employment, he threatens me by talking about my career prospects and my family on his social media," she said.

"It makes me feel unsafe."

Cr Thaler was set to give evidence on Monday afternoon but during a legal discussion regarding the admissibility of his statements and claims made, he became agitated and said the process was unfair to him.

"You are sanitising my statements," he told Commissioner Christopher Muir.

"These are my statements and I have that evidence."

CCTV confrontation over pool contractor

The application detailed a discussion between Cr Thaler and Ms Vu on the afternoon of January 23, 2026 at the Snowy Monaro council building in Cooma.

The commission was played nearly five minutes of CCTV footage where Cr Thaler talks to Ms Vu about a medical certificate before discussing the contractor hired to refurbish two council pools.

Contractor Dalski was retained to renovate the Bombala and Cooma pools, but the contract was cancelled by council in April this year due to performance concerns and Dalski entered administration in May.

Ms Vu said SMRC is seeking $3.3 million from Dalski's administrators.

She said Cr Thaler emailed her frequently in December and January raising issues around the pools' completion, missing pool filters and subcontractors not being paid.

Ms Vu said during the in-person confrontation, she felt a safety concern due to how Cr Thaler said "Don't play games" to her, which she said involved using an aggressive head movement and tone, as well as a fear that she had been secretly recorded.

Cr Thaler's lawyer Sharangan Maheswaran said to Ms Vu that her description of the recorded confrontation was a "total exaggeration".

Ms Vu said: "It's what I stated in terms of how I felt."

Under questioning, Ms Vu conceded that "to an extent" Cr Thaler was making a legitimate query about the pools, but that the issue regarding Dalski was an "operational matter" and that it wasn't the business of councillors to contact subcontractors.

Mr Maheswaran said Cr Thaler was warning Ms Vu about issues with the pool contract, and that there was a "smorgasbord of complaints" that didn't add up to bullying.

"They may be regarded as excessive, irrational even, but there's a threshold of bad faith that needs to be proven," he said.

Councillor compared to Narcissus

Cr Thaler has been previously suspended twice by the Office of Local Government due to alleged breaches of conduct, with the latest suspension ending last month.

Giving evidence on Monday morning, DEPA secretary Ian Robertson said the union was motivated to bring the action when Ms Vu brought him examples of conduct that he found "horrific and such appalling behaviour".

He also said DEPA made the application as processes within the Office of Local Government "would move slowly and this required urgent action".

Mr Maheswaran questioned Mr Robertson over newsletter articles written by him and sent to DEPA's financial members about bringing the stop bullying action against Cr Thaler.

When asked if including a painting depicting Narcissus in an article was an observation about him, Mr Robertson said: "Yes."

When asked if that would have an adverse impact on Cr Thaler, Mr Robertson said, "not amongst the people he works with, no".

"They already have an opinion of Cr Thaler."

Cr Thaler will give evidence on Tuesday.