Councillor suspended after menorah debate
Tom Humphries was suspended after describing councillors’ move to defer the menorah motion as antisemitic.
A Stonnington City Council arbiter has suspended Councillor Tom Humphries for four weeks for misconduct, after he made accusations of antisemitism during a debate over a community request to install a public Chanukah menorah.
The finding follows a complaint lodged in February by Councillors Steve Stefanopoulos, Jami Klisaris, Samantha Choudhury and Mayor Melina Sehr, and was handed down by arbiter Diana Price on September 12, ahead of this week’s council meeting.
The request began in May 2025, when Rabbi Reuven Cooper of Chabad Malvern proposed a publicly funded menorah to Councillors Humphries and Steve Stefanopoulos, who agreed to carry it forward.
It did not reach council until December 1, 2025, when Stefanopoulos moved to defer the motion, a delay that would have pushed discussion past Chanukah, ruling out hosting a menorah that year.
Humphries objected, calling the deferral “nonsensical, they’re an absolute affront to the Jewish community”, then declared it “nothing short of antisemitic to defer”. A visibly upset Stefanopoulos demanded a withdrawal, calling the comment defamatory; Humphries withdrew it only as it applied to him, not the broader accusation.
Price found the comments were not genuine advocacy but were “designed to bully, intimidate or harangue his colleagues to vote his way”, breaching the councillor code of conduct and bringing discredit on the council.
She noted the aftermath brought social media hostility, complaints to external bodies and Islamophobic comments directed at a separate councillor; though not holding him responsible, she found it foreseeable his “incendiary statements” would have such consequences.
The menorah was approved unanimously a week later, on December 9, and installed on the Stonnington City Centre balcony in time for Chanukah.
Price also found Humphries let the request drift for six months before bringing an underdeveloped motion at the last minute, jeopardising rather than helping the cause he claimed to be defending.
In a public statement to constituents, Humphries said he was suspended “because I fought hard for our community”, and that a state government appointed Arbiter found his argument “went beyond the concept of a robust debate in a democracy” and brought the council into disrepute. He said he strongly disagreed with the findings, adding: “I’m not going anywhere.”
Price ordered Humphries to apologise to council, and specifically to Councillors Sehr, Stefanopoulos, Klisaris and Choudhury, at his first meeting back.
He is also barred from holding the office of Mayor or Deputy Mayor for six months.