Kingston councillor stood down after being charged with offence

Independent councillor Jane Agirtan allegedly breached a court order.

A Melbourne councillor has been stood down after allegedly breaching a court order.

Jane Agirtan, an independent who represents Chiquita Ward on Kingston City Council, was stood down under section 229 of the Local Government Act. 

A statement from City of Kingston says Agirtan "must not perform the functions and duties of, or exercise the powers of a councillor, including attending council meetings, delegated committee meetings or attending council premises, until the conclusion of the court proceedings. "

"Under the Act, Cr Agirtan is stood down until the outcome of the court proceedings is finalised and next steps can be determined. A timeline for this is not yet known. During this period Council will have 10 Councillors. Community members from Chiquita Ward who wish to contact a local councillor will be directed to the Mayor."

The Herald Sun reported on Monday that Agirtan "allegedly breached a personal safety intervention order by not deleting alleged defamatory posts against a Melbourne lawyer on social media."

"Lawyer Emily Rothfield applied to the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court for her details, including her name and that of her workplace to be suppressed, claiming she had received threats and abusive posts following Ms Agirtan’s social media postings. The court granted an interim personal safety intervention order to Ms Rothfield on November 10, 2024. Agirtan [...] was charged with breaching that order in February when she allegedly called on her followers to contact the "pitiful and pathologically-obsessed individual who has harassed me for years"."

Agirtan won her seat at the the local government elections in October 2024 with 23.06% of first preferences and 52.83% of the two-candidate-preferred vote against sitting independent councillor Tracey Davies.

She unsuccessfully contested Longbeach Ward as an Independent Liberal in 2020, but left the Liberal Party and contested the seat of Mornington at the 2022 Victorian state election, getting 1.5% of the vote.