Fresh off a state election loss, the Mount Barker mayor has been ordered to publicly apologise to a One Nation MP over two complaints she made about his behaviour last year.
In a split vote dividing the council at its May meeting, David Leach was asked to apologise at the June meeting after it was found he breached two behavioural standards over two complaints made against him by ex-councillor Rebecca Hewett on June 15 last year.
Ms Hewett was part of a string of councillor resignations before she became part of One Nation’s sweeping SA election win and now sits in the upper house.
The findings, by Stephen Plummer, are currently confidential but Ms Hewett urged council to release them “as soon as possible”.
They will be released publicly next month, council said.
But the publicly available minutes show four councillors voted against Mr Leach apologising and instead undergo training.
They show Mr Plummer found he breached standard 1.4, by acting in a disrespectful manner, and standard 3.1, which deals with relationships with fellow council members and requires elected members to “maintain relationships of respect, trust, collaboration, and co-operation with all council members”.
The council said because Mr Plummer’s findings were currently confidential, neither it nor the Mayor could comment further, including on how much any probe cost.
The council spent more than an hour voting on what action to take and whether Mr Leach should apologise after he excused himself and left the meeting.
Councillor Sam Jones also declared a conflict of interest because she was named in the report “several times”.
“However as she does not stand to suffer any loss or gain, Councillor Jones will stay in the room and participate in the debate and vote,” council minutes say.
The council was split on every vote, requiring a casting vote by Councillor Simon Westwood – who was acting presiding member because the deputy mayor was not present.
Councillors Jessica Szilassy, Ian Grosser, Anne Fordham, and Ms Jones voted for council to take no action, but this was defeated.
Council then considered asking Mr Leach to apologise and undertake training, but this was also defeated.
Eventually, Mr Westwood used his casting vote to pass a motion Mr Leach apologise for the breaches.
Council was divided along the same lines for every vote, the minutes show.
Mr Hewett was the fourth councillor to quit in the past 18 months. Councillor Sally Harding left in November 2024 and Narelle Hardingham in June 2025, while Ms Jones indicated her intention to quit in May but did not make it official.
Mr Leach also ran for the state election, seeking to win the Hills-based Kavel electorate for Labor, but was soundly beaten by independent Matt Schultz.
Ms Hewett was contacted for comment.