Tom Humphries

Introduction

Tom Humphries is an Australian local government councillor representing Toorak Ward on Stonnington City Council in Melbourne’s inner south-east. In September 2026 he was suspended from the council for four weeks after an independent arbiter found he had engaged in misconduct during a December 1, 2025 debate, when he accused colleagues who deferred his push to install a Hanukkah menorah at Malvern Town Hall of acting unlawfully and antisemitically. Arbiter Diana Price found the conduct breached the Model Councillor Code of Conduct; Humphries rejects the findings.

Background Information

Stonnington City Council covers Melbourne’s inner south-eastern suburbs, including Toorak, Prahran, Armadale and Malvern. Its 2021 Census recorded 4,523 residents identifying with Judaism, Victoria’s second-largest municipal total after Glen Eira.

Before the dispute, Humphries had advocated action against antisemitism: in September 2025 he attended the Australian Mayors’ Summit Against Antisemitism and presented council with material recommending annual menorah displays. The menorah proposal began at a May 2025 meeting between Humphries, councillor Steve Stefanopoulos and Chabad Malvern; Rabbi Reuven Cooper later emailed a plan for Chabad to fund and donate the menorah, with the council responsible for installation and storage. Humphries told the arbitration he had delayed bringing the proposal to council to keep it separate from his mayoral bid, and withdrew his nomination before the November 19, 2025 election for lack of support.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated. The findings in this section come from an independent arbitration decision, a documented administrative process; Councillor Humphries rejects the findings.

At the December 1, 2025 meeting, Stefanopoulos sought to postpone a decision so councillors could examine the details; the motion to defer passed 4-4, with Mayor Melina Sehr using her casting vote. During the discussion, Humphries used the terms “grotesque”, “antisemitic”, “unlawful” and “an affront to the Jewish community”, called the decision “nonsensical”, and declared it “nothing short of antisemitic to defer”. After Stefanopoulos demanded a withdrawal, Humphries withdrew the remark as it applied to Stefanopoulos but did not retract it more broadly. The menorah was approved unanimously at a special meeting on December 9, 2025, after a detailed briefing on its dimensions, location and installation.

Four councillors — Sehr, Deputy Mayor Samantha Choudhury, Jami Klisaris and Stefanopoulos — lodged a complaint dated February 25, 2026 concerning his conduct at the December meeting and his preparation of the proposal. In her September 12, 2026 decision, arbiter Diana Price found the comments were directed at people rather than a procedural motion, a characterisation Humphries denies. She ruled his language was designed to “bully, intimidate or harangue his colleagues to vote his way”, and that while he was entitled to oppose the deferral forcefully, his statements went “well beyond the concept of robust debate in a democracy”. Price found the conduct breached the code’s requirements to treat others respectfully and brought discredit on the council.

The decision also faulted his handling of the proposal: Price found councillors had not been given enough information to decide, because he did not raise it at a November 24 briefing or circulate Chabad’s written plan with his motion. A three-month complaint deadline meant the earlier months counted only as background; Humphries denied neglecting the proposal or acting in bad faith.

The case is easily mischaracterised. It was Humphries who accused others of antisemitism, and he was not sanctioned for being antisemitic: Price’s finding was that directing the word “antisemitic” at colleagues over a procedural disagreement amounted to bullying misconduct, not that his own speech was prejudiced.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Price suspended Humphries for four weeks, barred him from serving as mayor or deputy mayor for six months, and ordered him to apologise to the council and the four complainants, who had sought a three-month suspension. She did not hold him directly responsible for racial slurs, physical intimidation or inaccurate reporting that followed, nor find he intended those consequences, but said he could have foreseen his remarks would have significant consequences.

State MP David Southwick raised the issue in Parliament and criticised the council on Facebook, saying a simple request to display a Chanukah menorah had descended into “chaos and division” and urging councillors to “stop being the Chanukah Grinch”.

Humphries rejected the findings. On his “Tom for Toorak” Instagram account he said he strongly disagreed with the characterisations of his actions: “These comments were made in a political debate in the actual [council] chamber. So if we’re not able to debate it in our agreed-upon political settings, then where else can we have a political debate?” He told The Age he worried about a “chilling effect” on debate about contentious issues, and said, “My intent from the outset was to advocate strongly for inclusion, particularly for the Jewish people.” In a statement to constituents reported by J-Wire, he said he was suspended “because I fought hard for our community” and declared, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Current Status

The Toorak Ward has been declared vacant on the council’s website while the suspension runs. A council spokesperson said Humphries will resume duties on October 13, with Sehr handling Toorak Ward inquiries in the interim; he has lost access to his council phone and email, and messages to his inbox are met with the reply “Tom Humphries does not currently hold the office of councillor”.

The menorah was installed on the Stonnington City Centre balcony in time for Chanukah 2025, and a 2026 display is proposed under a new civic recognition policy expected before council in October. The council also approved illuminating Malvern Town Hall in white during Chanukah in honour of those killed in the Bondi Beach terrorist attack, thirteen days after the debate. In April 2026, resident Josh Fast submitted the dispute to the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The suspension barred Humphries from the mayoralty he had pursued until November 2025 for half a year. He joins a growing list of Victorian councillors suspended for breaching the model councillor code of conduct, following Wyndham councillor Josh Gilligan’s two-week ban in an earlier case; the code was recommended by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission’s Operation Sandon report, and in 2026 Libertarian MP David Limbrick moved a successful motion calling for it to be reviewed. Humphries worries the outcome could deter others from running for local government, and maintains his comments were ordinary political speech made in the chamber.