Western Australia's State Administrative Tribunal has suspended a Mid West shire deputy president for three months due to a failure to apologize for defamatory remarks made about two council staff members. The suspension of Mount Magnet councillor Ian Black was announced on Friday.

In May, Cr. Black was recorded on CCTV attaching a printed document to a noticeboard that contained derogatory comments about two employees. The document, addressed to Mount Magnet residents, referred to one employee as suffering from "small man syndrome" and accused him of causing trouble. It also labeled another employee a liar multiple times.

Shire president Jim McGorman stated that the video evidence clearly shows Cr. Black posting the document, which he described as containing "pretty horrible stuff." McGorman noted, "The camera can actually see him doing it. He pushed 11 staples into the actual sign, [then] took a photograph of it."

The incident was reported to the Local Government Standards Panel, which determined that Cr. Black had violated the local government moral code of conduct. The panel ordered him to publicly apologize to the affected employees, but he did not comply. This led to the matter being escalated to the State Administrative Tribunal, where Senior Member Stephen Willey imposed the three-month suspension.

Cr. Black claimed he posted the notice on behalf of someone else and expressed uncertainty about the appropriateness of the action. He stated he was unaware of the panel's order for an apology until it was too late to comply. "I told the tribunal that I hadn't been given the opportunity to make a public apology," he said, adding that he felt the situation was "grossly unfair" but did not plan to appeal the decision.

President McGorman remarked that the tribunal's ruling marks the conclusion of an 18-month ordeal for the council. He expressed relief that the issue has been resolved, stating, "Our integrity has sort of been compromised in that sense. I'm hoping that Cr. Black takes this suspension seriously and, again, he changes his conduct."

Cr. Black has been a member of the shire for six years and is not scheduled for re-election until 2027. He previously faced legal issues last year when he was prosecuted by the Mount Magnet Shire for illegally transporting and dumping asbestos. Although he pleaded guilty to three charges, he later negotiated with the shire, resulting in the charges being dropped.