Melbourne councils’ biggest controversies in 2022
From gag orders to bizarre sculptures, Victorian councils have not shied away from controversial decisions over the past year.
Victoria
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Melbourne’s councils have been mired in controversies over the last 12 months due to their questionable use of ratepayer money and a number of head-stratching decisions.
From gag orders to splurging on orange sculptures, here are some of their most controversial decisions over the past year.
Yarra Council’s ‘gag order’
The Greens-led Yarra Council move to censor all criticism and ban councillors from speaking publicly without permission was likened to a North Korean gag order by ratepayers when it was proposed in March last year.
“Telling elected community representatives they can’t share their own views is what happens in North Korea,” a spokesman for the Yarra Residents Collective said.
“Now they are trying to bring a bit of Kim Jong-un to the Richmond Town Hall.”
The controversial council said the proposal had been developed with guidance from senior staff at Yarra’s municipal monitor, but they later dumped the plan following a major public backlash.
Ratepayers slugged for in-house nanny
A Yarra Greens councillor and former mayor Gabrielle de Vietri charged ratepayers for an in-house nanny during Melbourne’s lockdowns during 2020 and 2022.
Cr de Vietri, who won the seat of Richmond from Labor at the 2022 state election, claimed $6961 for 56 days of child care, including four weekend days.
The charges included fees of up to $200 a day for childcare. Cr de Vietri defended asking ratepayers to cover her bills, arguing: “My kid is school age so during lockdowns I couldn’t send them to childcare which is subsidised.
“But I couldn’t send them to school either because I was not an ‘authorised worker’ and was able to work from home. So yes, it was pretty expensive.’’
Name change over racist past
In an “act of reconciliation’, Moreland City Council changed its name to Merri-bek in September after it learned it was named after an 18th-century Jamaican slave estate.
The plantation had as many as 700 slaves at any one time during its operation.
The new name means “rocky country”, and was suggested by Wurunjeri elders.
However, Ian Hunter, an elder of the Wurundjeri community, argued the move was “part of a Green agenda that allows them to put their names up in lights”.
The remaining process will cost ratepayers $500,000 over two years, but independent councillor Oscr Yildiz claims the real figure will be in the millions.
Citizenship ceremonies scrapped
The same inner-north Melbourne council voted to scrap Australia Day citizenship ceremonies last month and will start hosting a “day of mourning” event for First Nations people instead. It is the second time Merri-bek Council – which covers Brunswick, Fawkner and Glenroy in Melbourne’s north – had tried to stop Australia Day citizenship ceremonies.
Responding to Merri-bek council’s decision, Premier Daniel Andrews upheld his support of the national holiday but acknowledged the “deep trauma” of the day for many.
“My position on this has been very clear over a long period of time,” he said.“I think we can respectfully acknowledge our past, but also come together and celebrate what modern Australia is all about.” Yarra and Darebin councils voted to discontinue citizenship ceremonies in 2017.
$85k on oranges sculptures
Bayside Council splashed $85,000 on five orange sculptures in a “tribute” to those who participate in team sports, the Herald Sun revealed in November. Bayside Mayor Alex del Portoaid said Carla Gottgens’ sculptures, which were installed at Peterson Reserve in Highett, brought “vibrancy and interactivity” to public spaces and fostered “wellbeing and inclusion”.
But ratepayers’ groups argued the decision was an “exorbitant” and “disgusting” waste of money. Sandringham state Liberal MP Brad Rowswell said the council “prioritised oranges over opportunities for locals to fully participate in the sports that they love”. In 2020, Yarra Council splurged $22,000 on a 6ft banana sculpture, which was later removed after a vandal tried to decapitate it with a hacksaw.
Councillor’s soaring legal bills
In November, it was revealed that Hume City Council spent more than $200,000 in legal bills over a two-year period to deal with just one councillor’s conduct.
The council’s courtroom spending bonanza included its code of conduct application against Cr Trevor Dance where a panel initially found him guilty of “serious misconduct” after he failed to appear at two directions hearings.
He was later cleared of misconduct by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). Cr Dance has also made eight complaints against fellow councillors, none of which have been upheld by an independent arbiter, which have each cost more than $8000 on average.
“Heat officers” appointed to fight climate change
Melbourne City Council appointed “chief heat officers” to deal with “life-threatening” climate change effects in October, becoming the first Australasian municipality to create the new roles. Ratepayers Victoria president Dean Hurlston accused Ms Capp and the council of virtue signalling while city businesses needed more help.“ Chief heat officers might be a new woke term for climate change action, but this does nothing to restore business confidence,” he said. “The alleged heat increases won’t matter a rip if thousands of businesses are closed, and staff don’t return to the CBD.” In October, Lord Mayor Sally Capp was sent on an overseas climate junket, just months after her $5000 taxpayer-funded trip to Singapore to learn how to combat graffiti.
‘Saying goodbye to our beautiful Troy’: Selwood’s funeral details
Former Brisbane Lions star and Geelong Grammar staff member Troy Selwood will be farewelled at the home of the Cats, GMHBA Stadium, on Valentine’s Day.
‘Massive win’ for TAFE teachers as pay hiked, conditions improved
Under a new agreement with the Allan government, the minimum salary of TAFE teachers will jump by 21 per cent over four years, including a 14 per cent rise in the first 14 months.