Noel Selby

Introduction

Noel Selby, a councillor on Kempsey Shire Council on the New South Wales Mid North Coast, resigned from the council on November 4, 2026, ending a months-long standoff over a violent comment posted to his private Facebook profile. The comment — “pity he hadn’t bashed you” — was posted in response to a woman who alleged on Facebook that a man had been violent towards multiple partners. Selby insisted his account had been hacked and refused for weeks to stand down, but an independent investigation found he did post the comment, his fellow councillors unanimously called for his resignation, and he finally tendered his immediate resignation by letter.

Kempsey Shire mayor Kinne Ring said the resignation allowed the council to “close the chapter on what has been a difficult few months.”

Background Information

Selby served as an elected councillor on Kempsey Shire Council, the local government authority for the Kempsey region on the New South Wales Mid North Coast. His private Facebook profile became the center of the controversy after a reply from the account surfaced beneath a woman’s post alleging that a man had been violent towards multiple partners. The reply from Selby’s account stated: “pity he hadn’t bashed you.”

The comment’s target was a woman describing alleged domestic violence — which made the reply, read in context, an apparent suggestion that the violence she described should have been visited on her. That context is what transformed a councillor’s late-night Facebook reply into a council-wide integrity crisis, in a shire whose official position is that it “does not condone violence in any form, including domestic and family violence.”

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Resigned after an inquiry found he posted the comment. The finding that Selby posted the reply comes from an independent investigation commissioned into the hacking claim; he maintained his innocence throughout and was never criminally charged over the comment.

When the “pity he hadn’t bashed you” reply came to light, Selby’s defense was categorical: he claimed his account had been hacked and that he did not write the comment. The claim transformed the case from a simple conduct matter into a factual dispute, and the council commissioned an independent investigation to resolve it.

In October 2026, the independent investigation found the councillor did post the comment on Facebook, rejecting the hacking explanation. At a council meeting on October 20, his fellow councillors unanimously called for his resignation.

Selby refused. He maintained he did not make the comment, said he would not stand down, and stated he was “against all acts of domestic violence” — holding his seat against a unanimous council and a concluded investigation for another two weeks.

On Wednesday, November 4, 2026, the council confirmed that Selby had written to tender his immediate resignation. The fortnight between the unanimous call to resign and the actual resignation letter covered the full arc of the controversy: the finding, the council’s demand, the councillor’s refusal, and the endgame.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Mayor Kinne Ring’s statement framed the resignation as the end of an ordeal for the council and the community: “With Cr Selby’s resignation, we can now close the chapter on what has been a difficult few months for our council and community and look ahead with a renewed focus on the positive things we can achieve together.”

Ring tied the episode to the council’s broader credibility, noting the by-election triggered by the resignation would come “at a time when Council is working hard to address significant financial challenges.” Her sharpest line addressed the principle the controversy tested: “But a council’s financial position can be rebuilt. Public trust, once lost, is much harder to restore.” She added that the community “deserves representatives who understand that holding public office is a privilege, not an entitlement, and that the responsibility to uphold its standards must always come before personal interests.”

A council spokesperson said the shire “does not condone violence in any form, including domestic and family violence” — the institutional statement of the standard the comment violated. The ABC noted it had contacted Mr. Selby for comment.

Current Status

Selby has resigned from Kempsey Shire Council effective immediately, ending his tenure as councillor. A by-election to fill the vacant seat must be held within three months, and the council continues under mayor Kinne Ring with the Selby controversy formally closed. Selby’s stated position — that he did not write the comment and is “against all acts of domestic violence” — remains unreconciled with the independent investigation’s finding, as he has offered no further public accounting since resigning.

Impact on Their Career/Life

An elected local-government career ended over a single Facebook reply, after the councillor spent six weeks defending a hacking claim that an independent investigation dismantled. The unanimity of his colleagues’ call for resignation, the published finding against his account, and the mayor’s “public trust” framing leave Selby’s standing in Kempsey public life damaged regardless of his continued denials. The council, for its part, converted the crisis into an institutional statement — that holding office is a privilege, not an entitlement — while preparing a by-election the mayor acknowledged lands during a stretch of financial difficulty for the shire.

Sources

• ABC News (Australia), “Noel Selby resigns from Kempsey Shire Council after Facebook comment backlash,” November 4, 2026. source