Hedland’s special council meeting to consider no-confidence motion in Adrian McRae attracts hundreds of views

More than 400 people tuned in online to see the outcome of a vote of no-confidence in newly elected Hedland Councillor Adrian McRae last week. The meeting, which ran for more than three hours on Monday evening, was called after Cr McRae hit headlines earlier this year over his comments relating to the re-election of Vladimir Putin into the country’s top political office. A Town of Port Hedland spokesman confirmed 407 people had watched the livestream of the meeting online but said the numbers, while higher than average, weren’t significantly greater than for some previous ordinary council meetings. However, the true number of viewers could be even higher, with at least one social media page on-sharing the live stream. The council live streams all ordinary and special council meetings, a practice they brought in before all Class 1 and 2 local governments were told that making audio and visual recordings of council meetings — and retaining them for a period of five years — would become mandatory from January 1, 2025, following changes to the Local Government Act. Under the changes, recordings of council meetings must be published on the local government’s website or another external website with a link placed on the local government’s website within 14 days of the meeting taking place. Town of Port Hedland council meetings, including Monday’s special council meeting, can be viewed by visiting Video Library » Town of Port Hedland.