Borough of Queenscliffe under fire for ‘outrageous’ spend on pro-Voice event

Queenscliff residents are demanding a refund after it was revealed their council had forked out ratepayer funds to fly in a ‘yes’ campaigner for its controversial pro-Voice forum.

Fuming Queenscliff residents are demanding a refund after it was revealed ratepayers were forking out flight costs for a panellist to attend the council’s controversial pro-Voice forum.

Victoria’s smallest council will host a ‘yes’ campaign event on Sunday at a cost of almost $4000 to ratepayers, with hundreds of dollars spent on flying in journalist and co-author of The Voice to parliament Handbook Kerry O’Brien, from Sydney.

O’Brien will be joined by Wadawurrung woman Corrina Eccles and University of Melbourne constitutional lawyer Prof Cheryl Saunders at the event, which is being advertised by Yes23.

Indigenous leader Thomas Mayo was a late scratching from the forum.

Borough of Queenscliffe chief executive Martin Gill confirmed on Saturday that the council would cover the cost of flights for O’Brien, and travel costs for a Victorian panellist.

Queenscliffe Council has come under fire for refusing to balance its community pro-Voice event. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

“Council is covering the travel expenses of two of our speakers,” he said.

“One speaker is travelling from interstate and Council is covering the cost of the flights.”

The Sunday Herald Sun’s questions about how much the flights cost ratepayers were ignored.

Despite requests from locals to balance the panel, the elected representatives have refused to allow ‘no’ vote campaigners to speak.

Local resident Ian Royce labelled the spend “outrageous” and “utterly offensive” and called for the council to reach intotheir own pockets instead.

Mr Royce said residents wanting to raise their concerns had been “stonewalled” by the council.

“They won’t clean the footpaths or the bins but suddenly they’ve got the budget to do this,” Mr Royce said.

Residents of the tiny Queenscliff community say its council should be focused on local issues.

“They’re rorting the system for their cause … these are our elected officials!”

Mr Royce’s frustrations were echoed on social media, with one woman accusing the council of “hoodwinking” rate payers, whileanother called the forum an “indoctrination session”.

Local Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson, who had requested to speak about the merits of the ‘no’ case at the event but was denied, backed locals in requesting a refund.

Senator Henderson said the hefty spend on flying in O’Brien was “extremely concerning” and a “reckless use of ratepayer funds”.

“I call on council to refund these costs perhaps by asking the mayor or the Yes campaign to foot the bill,” she said.

The council has claimed the federal government wants it to “promote the conversation” ahead of the upcoming referendum.

Senator Sarah Henderson has blasted the Borough of Queenscliffe’s forum as ‘one-sided’. Picture: Martin Ollman

The cost to ratepayers for equipment and administration is expected to cost less than $4000, according to council estimates.

The Herald Sun understands the decision to not have presentations from politicians followed consultation with the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation and representatives of the Point Lonsdale Civic Association.

A Borough of Queenscliffe spokeswoman said the council in March decided to host a free “community conversation, not a debate” about the upcoming referendum, featuring panellists with “expertise or experience” in constitutional law and First Nations issues, or local Traditional Owners that would be “directly impacted by what is proposed”.

She said the council had not taken a formal position on the Voice and was open to hosting a number of community conversations on issues such as the referendum.

But Indigenous leader and ‘no’ campaign advocate Warren Mundine said: “If the council isn’t having ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ people, then it is using ratepayers’ money in a propaganda campaign”.

It comes as Merri-bek City councillors on Wednesday voted in favour of allocating $18,000 “towards a community education campaign around The Voice”.

It also approved $4000 for “Yes to Voice, Treaty, Truth” printed materials to be distributed in the community and displayed at public spaces including libraries.

Eight councillors endorsed the campaign funding, while independent Councillors Helen Pavlidis-Mihalakos and Oscar Yildiz opposed the move.

The $18,000 will fund “community forums and conversations” around The Voice and grants for local organisations, allowing them to host activities with First Nations speakers that “promote information sharing and respectful conversations”.

Cr Pavlidis-Mihalakos said it was “not role of council to tell the community how to vote in a referendum’.

“It is a matter for each individual to turn their mind to the matter at hand and satisfy themselves that they have the necessary information to make an informed decision,” Cr Pavlidis-Mihalakos said.

“Council allocating resources to a community based yes campaign is, in my view, inappropriate use of council resources.”

Cr Yildiz said the council should not “waste one dollar of anyone’s rates … on something that’s got nothing to do with council”.

“I don’t believe a majority of the ratepayers of this city would want us to be spending money on a federal issue,” he said.

“I’m getting really sick and tired of people using council as a platform to push their own agendas.”

Merri-bek City Council Acting Mayor Helen Davidson said local councils “have an important role to play in building awareness and education about the Referendum process … and providing culturally safe spaces for open discussions and information sharing”.

“The key aim of an awareness campaign is to support the Merri-bek community to make their own informed choice when it comes to time to vote,” Cr Davidson said.

“Community-led conversations and information sharing will include speakers reflecting a diversity of progressive views in the First Nations community.”

Cr Davidson said the council acknowledged there was “a diversity of positions about The Voice across the community, particularly among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities”.

Premier Daniel Andrews on Thursday refused to say whether the state government would be spending taxpayer funds on campaigning for the Yes vote.

“I have no announcements to make about that. When it comes to the Voice my position is very, very clear,” he said.

“If you’ve done something one way for a long time and it’s not working, then most people try something different. There is nothing to be feared here.”

“In fact, my fear is that we just keep doing what we’ve been doing, and keep wasting billions and billions of dollars to see all the metrics … get worse”.

“That’s why I’m voting yes and that’s why I think other people should.”

Local Government Minister Kristy McBain last month wrote to councils about the referendum, saying “together we can make this change a reality”.

“We need to have conversations with our communities about why this change to our constitution is simple, fair and practical,” she wrote.

“We need to give all Australians the opportunity to bring our nation together, and that is exactly what the Voice will do.”

The letter also provided links to Yes campaign material and information that can be used to support community consultation.