This article was originally published by the OUTInPerth. You can find the original article here.
Albany councillor and Liberal party candidate Dr Thomas Brough has declared he will not attend inclusivity training ordered by his fellow council members.
The embattled City of Albany councillor says the training provided by the Australian Human Rights Commission is akin to “conversion therapy” and “forced indoctrination”.
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The councillor was ordered to attend the training following comments he made at a council meeting earlier this year where he he claimed the plus symbol in LGBTIQA+ might also include “minor attracted people”.
It is understood that the council took the action due to the large number of complaints received about the councillor’s comment.
Councillor Brough later repeated the claim during media interviews and but later issued an apology for his comments saying he was only fulfilling his duty as an elected representative to put forward views that other in the community held and has voice concern to him.
Shortly after the controversy Councillor Brough, who is an emergency department doctor, was selected to be the Liberal party’s candidate for Albany at the 2025 state election. Under their rebranding he’s now known as Tom Brough.
The Albany Advertiser has reported that at this week’s Council Meeting Brough said he would not attend the training and said the requirement was akin to “forced re-education” and “thought de-programming” used by military dictatorships in North Korea, China or Russia.
“It is in the public domain that council decided that their ratepayers should foot the bill for a uniquely un-Australian punishment: my forced re-education by government bureaucracy — conversion therapy, or at least on the cusp of it,” he said.
“Let me be clear: I will not comply. Let me be clear: I defy you.”
The councillor then reportedly took aim at media outlets who covered his comments, describing media reports as “editorial wish-casting” addressing journalists and editors as “comrade” and “commissar”.
Tiger Bird from Albany Pride said the aspiring politician was looking desperate.
“He’s an aspiring politician with no platform, no policy, nothing to fight on but these weird ideological buzzwords.
“It’s just attention-seeking from someone who’s demonstrated that they’ve got no political prowess or platform to speak on, and embarrassing for the WA Liberals that this is the best they have to offer — this man whose only contribution to political discourse is nonsense conspiracies.
“We look forward to seeing what council’s next steps are to address his ongoing inflammatory and divisive comments and to manage his blatant and public disrespect for the formal council processes.” Bird said.
