State government yet to make call on monitors at Geelong council
Uncertainty abounds in the corridors of City Hall as to whether the state government’s monitors will continue to keep a close eye on the behaviour of the new Geelong council.
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The state government has not yet decided on whether the monitors it appointed to keep a close eye on City Hall will continue in 2025.
The term of Peter Dorling and Mark Davies ended on December 31, with the pair now compiling a report that will be the key factor in whether recently installed Local Government Minister Nick Staikos wants monitors to maintain a presence.
It is unclear when that report will be completed and released publicly.
A spokesman would only say that a decision would be made when the final report is handed over.
This approach is different to that recently taken by the state government at Darebin City Council, where the monitors’ term was extended by six months ahead of the initial December 31 cut-off.
The need for further governance support was behind the move.
Mr Davies and Mr Dorling’s appointment by then Local Government Minister Melissa Horne in April came less than three months after the 12-month term of Mr Dorling and Prue Digby finished.
It took Ms Horne approximately two months to make the decision after receiving the report and in a statement at the time, she said monitors would ensure stability at the council during the election of a new mayor – something that occurred in late November.
The report noted that although Geelong council had made progress, more work was needed to improve its governance policies, processes and practices.
“We have observed an increasing, and unusually high, number of complaints between councillors either informally, under the code of conduct or to the principal councillor conduct registrar,” the report stated.
“Given that the council has had difficulty committing to reflecting on their individual and group performance during our appointment term, we are not convinced that the council group will engage in this practice once our appointment term finishes.
“It is also our concern that once our appointments end, tensions and divisions in the councillor group will escalate especially with the upcoming elections and that this type of behaviour will only increase.”
The state opposition has been a vocal critic of the government’s appointment of monitors at multiple Victorian councils.
Each monitor is paid upwards of $1300-a-day plus expenses, with ratepayers forced to foot the bill.
The cost to Geelong ratepayers in 2023 was almost $110,000.
In a statement last month, the opposition said monitors had become “a growth industry built on poor governance and mistrust”.
“There have been more than 25 local council monitor appointments since 2020,” it said.
“Monitors on top of the usual administrative costs has become an expensive exercise for ratepayers.”
Geelong-based Liberal MLC Bev McArthur has also hit out at Labor’s use of monitors, not only at City Hall, but also at Colac-Otway Shire.
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Originally published as State government yet to make call on monitors at Geelong council
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