Geelong council monitors Prue Digby and Peter Dorling hand final report to state government after 12 month appointment

Geelong is no longer under scrutiny of two monitors appointed last year by state government – a development that will please many at City Hall.

Melissa Horne has been handed a report into the City of Greater Geelong. Picture: David Geraghty.

Geelong council is free from the prying eyes of its $1300-a-day monitors after a final report on City Hall’s performance was handed to the state government.

The year-long term of government-appointed monitors Peter Dorling and Prue Digby finished late last month, much to the delight of some council figures who had tired of their regular presence in the corridors of City Hall.

Prue Digby.

Local Government Minister Melissa Horne is currently “considering” the pair’s report, after which she is expected to share it with council “in due course”.

It is expected the report will also be made public.

Peter Dorling.

Under the Local Government Act, ratepayers are required to cover the cost of Ms Digby and Mr Dorling’s tenure, who were each paid $1296-a-day.

A spokesman for Ms Horne, who previously estimated the monitors did “two to three days of work per week” combined, said questions about the total cost was one for council.

Council did not respond to questions before deadline.

An allocation for the expenditure in council’s 2023-24 budget could not be found.

Ms Digby and Mr Dorling were appointed to oversee the search for a new chief executive after initial efforts were botched.

A number of senior City Hall staff had become increasingly frustrated that the hand-picked Labor appointees continued to exert influence on council decisions long after Ali Wastie was appointed to the top job in June.

“I certainly won’t be sad to see the back of them,” one insider said.

During her only visit to Geelong as premier thus far, Jacinta Allan in November denied the monitors’ presence was an attempt to exert influence over council.

Ms Digby, a former chief executive of the Victorian Building Authority, has moved straight into another monitoring role at Moonee Valley council for a minimum six-month term.

Prior to her Geelong appointment, she spent a year as monitor of South Gippsland council and almost two years at Frankston council before that.

Mr Dorling, a business development manager at Avalon Airport, previously acted as an administrator and monitor of Geelong council from 2016-2019.

At Geelong council’s January meeting, councillors spent little time discussing City Hall’s final progress report stemming from the 2016 commission of inquiry that led to the sacking of then mayor Darryn Lyons.

The “Transformation Program 2.0” update found digital modernisation was the area that needed most attention.

“Over the past year, we have achieved a significant milestone by conducting a comprehensive review of the initial digital modernisation program,” Ms Wastie said.

“All recommendations stemming from this review have been embraced and are slated for integration into phase two of this program – the digital innovation initiative.”

Originally published as Geelong council monitors Prue Digby and Peter Dorling hand final report to state government after 12 month appointment