Mornington Peninsula Shire favours failed federal Labor candidate Sarah Race over sitting Liberal MPs
Council bureaucrats have sparked outrage by inviting a wannabe Labor pollie to a homelessness summit while ignoring the area’s sitting Liberal MPs.
A Victorian council has been left red faced after a failed federal Labor candidate was invited to a political pow wow on the Mornington Peninsula while sitting Liberal state and federal MPs were ignored.
Mornington Peninsula Shire was accused of “blatant political bias” after its invite list for the housing and homelessness round table was revealed.
Invitations were sent to Federal Labor MP for Dunkley Jodie Belyea, State Labor MP for Hastings Paul Mercurio and Legislative Council for Eastern Victoria Tom McIntosh, also a Labor man.
The failed Labor candidate for Flinders at the recent federal election, Sarah Race, also got a guernsey.
Ms Race, who is a former councillor, finished third between eventual winner incumbent Liberal Zoe McKenzie and Teal candidate Ben Smith.
Left off the guest list were Liberal MPs for Nepean Sam Groth and his Mornington counterpart Chris Crewther.
The only federal MP included in the event was Jodie Belyea, whose electorate includes a tiny slice of the Mt Eliza, the sole part of the shire she represents.
Council bureaucrats planned to host Federal Special Envoy on Social Housing and Homelessness Josh Burns MP at next week’s talk fest.
The Herald Sun understands Mr Burns, who happens to be mates with Ms McKenzie, has since pulled the pin on the event.
A letter signed by Ms McKenzie, Mr Crewther and Mr Groth has been sent to the shire, accusing council bureaucrats of “blatant political bias”.
According to the letter the Liberal trio only found out about the event on Thursday.
“The fact that we learned of this event haphazardly in discussion with local constituents in the last 24 hours indicates blatant political bias on behalf of the Shire and its officers,” the letter states.
“This meeting is set for a time when neither the State members for Nepean and Mornington (in whose electorate the meeting will be held) nor the Federal member for Flinders can be present.
“This raises serious questions about impartiality and inclusiveness of the Shire’s approach to addressing critical issues affecting our community.”
Ms McKenzie also told the Herald Sun the snub “undermined the collaborative efforts” needed to address the housing and homelessness situation on the Mornington Peninsula”.
“This exclusion suggests a deeply concerning political bias that could hinder the development of comprehensive and effective solutions for our community,” she said.
Mornington Peninsula mayor Anthony Marsh said the snub should not have happened.
“The CEO and I will ensure our processes are improved to uphold the impartiality the community rightly expects,” he said.
“Just last week, the CEO and I travelled to Canberra and, with the support of both Zoe McKenzie and Jodie Belyea, met with the Minister and Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness to advocate for the Peninsula.
“That’s the kind of bipartisan co-operation we need.”
A shire spokesperson said the organisation would review its internal process on how it engaged with different levels of government to “ensure these mistakes don’t happen” and to get the best results fot the community.
“We have a great relationship with the state and federal members that represent our Shire and we look forward to continuing our work with them on improving housing in the our region.”