Whitehorse Council spends $200,000 on cultural book about Japan sister city

WHITEHORSE Council will fork out $200,000 for a single book about its 50-year relationship with a Japanese city, in a move labelled “extravagant”.

WHITEHORSE Council will fork out an “extravagant” $200,000 for a book about its 50-year relationship with a Japanese city.

The bill for the book wasn’t listed as an individual item in the council’s budget, but was “buried” within the category of ‘Operational Expenses’ under the title of ‘International Relations’.

Cr Blair Barker confirmed the expense had been “buried” within the budget.

“For a major expense like that there should be that transparency,” he said. “I’m not interested in council keeping secrets from the people that fund it.”

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Cr Barker said he was not against the council’s relationship with Matsudo, but agreed that “local government should be focused on local government issues”.

“There’s only X amount of money to go around,” he said.

Mayor Andrew Davenport confirmed the money had been allocated to producing a book about the council’s relationship with sister city Matsudo, which would reach 50 years in 2021.

Cr Davenport said he hoped the expenses for the book would come in at under $200,000.

He also confirmed the city of Matsudo council — whose population is more than double Whitehorse’s — would not be contributing any funds towards the book.

The mayor said the relationship was the oldest international relationship of any Victorian council.

“It’s very important for historical reasons to get as much out of the relationship as we can,” he said.

Whitehorse Ratepayers and Residents Association president and former councillor Tanya Tescher said “people would be horrified” with the cost.

In a submission to the council’s budget on behalf of the association in May, she said the prospect of spending $200,000 on a book was “unwarranted” and “extravagant”.

Evan Mulholland, from the Institute of Public Affairs, said $200,000 was an extravagant amount of money “to spend on a novelty relationship with a foreign city”.

“Ratepayers have had a gutful of local councils like Whitehorse that would rather spend money in the area of international diplomacy than lower rates for residents or fix local roads,” he said.

“Local government should stick to local issues it is responsible for.”

The Whitehorse Council website has a page devoted to the sister city relationship with Matsudo. It claims: “ … sister cities support the ongoing exchange of people, ideas and resources in a variety of cultural, educational and sporting activities, to the mutual benefit of all those involved.”

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