Golden Plains Shire CEO Shane Walden duped into agreeing to speak at rally
The chief executive of Golden Plains Shire was duped into agreeing to speak at a now-canned rally calling for administrators to be appointed to oversee the organisation he leads.
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The chief executive of Golden Plains Shire was duped into agreeing to speak at a rally calling for administrators to be appointed to the council, with a Labor MP also advertised as a guest speaker.
A flyer made the rounds on social media on Tuesday promoting a rally at Shelford Cricket Club on October 22 titled “Time for Change”.
The flyer posed the question “are administrators needed?” and encouraged potential attendees to “hold the Golden Plains Shire accountable for wasting ratepayers’ money”.
“A rally is being held for all rate payers and residents to make the Golden Plains Shire accountable,” the flyer read.
Among the guest speakers slated to speak at the rally were local MP Michaela Settle and shire chief executive Shane Walden.
But Ms Settle said she was blindsided by the calls for administrators.
The member for Eureka had agreed to speak directly to the group of locals about their concerns around rates, as she was set to be in Shelford that day.
“I am always happy to meet with people to discuss the issues that are important to them and I have mobile offices in Golden Plains regularly,” Ms Settle said.
“But in this instance, it would be inappropriate for me to speak at a rally about the council during the council election period.”
Golden Plains chief executive Shane Walden was also slated to speak at the rally.
But he told the Geelong Advertiser: “I am not speaking at this event and am not aligned with the concept of ‘Time for Change — Are Administrators Needed?’”
The rally has since been cancelled, with organisers saying the decision was “due to council elections”.
Attempts were made to reach out to the organisers.
Former commissioner of the Golden Plains shire Clare Barber, who was also named as a guest speaker, said she was “disappointed” the rally wouldn’t be going ahead.
Commissioners were appointed in the mid-90s as a part of Victoria’s council amalgamations.
She said the way the rally was promoted did not fully explain its purpose.
“The state of the roads have been so neglected and rates have doubled which has caused so much stress,” Ms Barber said.
“There’s no unity within the council, that’s what the rally was about, getting the new council and new CEO to work together, it’s so important.
“This shire is a mess, there’s no doubt about it.”
It comes after a slanging match broke out between warring Golden Plains councillors as ballot packs started to hit letterboxes.
Councillor Les Rowe lashed out at mayor Brett Cunningham, alleging Mr Cunningham had fostered a “toxic environment” and calling for him to ditch his election bid after a Facebook post denouncing another councillor.
Mr Cunningham apologised for the post, which he described as an “error of judgement during the election period”.
The content summaries were created with the assistance of AI technology, then edited and approved for publication by an editor.
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Originally published as Golden Plains Shire CEO Shane Walden duped into agreeing to speak at rally
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