Former councillor pleads not guilty to stalking senior shire staff

A former local government councillor and One Nation candidate in Western Australia is set to fight charges of stalking and ongoing breaches of violence restraining orders. Gemma Marie Johnston served nearly three years as a Shire of Esperance councillor before resigning in August. Last year she was a One Nation candidate for the federal seat of O'Connor, winning 11 per cent of the primary vote behind Liberal incumbent Rick Wilson (34 per cent). The 56-year-old faced the Esperance Magistrate's Court on Tuesday on two charges of pursuing another to intimidate and 41 separate breaches of violence restraining orders. She entered not guilty pleas to all charges and is set to reappear in court for a trial listing hearing on January 12. Gemma Johnston (right) with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson on the campaign trail in Kalgoorlie-Boulder during the 2025 federal election. (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)The court heard the stalking charges related to two senior shire staff members between February 11, 2025 and May 11 this year, and a separate allegation between August 8 and August 26 this year. The VRO breaches are alleged to have occurred between May 2025 and May this year, while Ms Johnston was serving as a councillor. During Tuesday's hearing, Ms Johnston was reprimanded several times by court staff before and during her appearance for the use of her mobile phone in the courtroom, and reminded of court etiquette.Gemma Johnston was elected in October 2023. (Facebook: Gemma Johnston)Ms Johnston's lawyer, Nick Terry, requested a copy of his client's phone records, which had been downloaded by police.The prosecution told the court the volume of data was "extensive" and it would likely take several weeks. Magistrate William Yoo ordered the records to be delivered by December 18. Gemma Johnston served as a councillor from October 2023 until her resignation in August this year. (Facebook: Gemma Johnston)Colourful career as councillorBetween her election in October 2023 and resignation three months ago, Ms Johnston was sanctioned three times by the Local Government Standards Panel for breaches of its code of conduct.She breached regulations by engaging an external planning consultant to refute the shire's information contained in a council agenda, and was ordered to undergo seven hours of training for elected members. In August 2025, she was suspended for a month by the State Administrative Tribunal for failing to complete the training.On another occasion, Ms Johnston was accused of using "inside knowledge" as an elected member to arrange a flash mob outside the shire's administration building to confront then-fisheries minister Don Punch about the proposed South Coast Marine Park. She was later cleared of that allegation.Don Punch was met by around 300 protesters outside the Shire of Esperance administration building in April 2024. (ABC Esperance: Emily Smith)But Ms Johnston was ordered by the panel to publicly apologise to fellow councillor Wes Graham regarding "disparaging" comments she made on social media at the time. In May this year, the panel ordered Ms Johnston to make another public apology for "improper conduct" after involving herself in an administrative task without authorisation and speaking to a shire contractor in a disparaging manner about a council staff member.