Tuesday, 12 May 2026

 John LISTER (Werribee) (10:48): I rise to speak on the inquiry into fraud and corruption in local government done by the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee. I thank the previous speaker on this side, the member for Point Cook, for his contribution, and I do echo a lot of the sentiments that he had. In particular in this report I do want to go to findings 24, 56, 57 and 58. Finding 24 goes towards that transparency which the member for Point Cook spoke about. Findings 56, 57 and 58 go to the process of monitors in local government as well. I want to make it clear to the community that I think Cr Singh’s decision to provide a reference is abhorrent and reaffirm Labor’s commitment to removing these types of good character references – so-called good character – from our justice system altogether.

Like many of my colleagues on this side, I will not be meeting with Cr Singh in any capacity. Instead I will be working through my local ward councillors, in particular Peter Maynard. But I would like to challenge the assertion – and the member for Point Cook also picked up on this – that the appointment of a monitor to Wyndham City Council was in relation to a case of one bad apple. Many times in this house, and in fact many times outside of this house, I have spoken about concerns around governance at Wyndham City Council and its decisions, such as the Oracle decision, which is heavily referenced in this report and in some of the questions on notice provided by the council, and not only the transparency around reporting for the Oracle project. Recently Wyndham City Council brought out its draft budget, and in reading that budget I have some concerns about the way that it presents a lot of the state funding and federal funding in it too.

I look forward to working with my ward councillors on clarifying that, because I have also raised in this house and outside of this house concerns around the way Wyndham City Council has spent state money, and the way that it has been acquitted for important local projects, particularly in community sport.

I also have concerns around recent discussions online around the allocation of residual funding for the Ison Road project from council going to other parts of the municipality, not even on the same side of the river. I have appreciated the positive engagement I have had with council officers on that but would like to make it very clear that if there are developer contributions collected for projects on the western side of the river and Werribee and Wyndham Vale and Manor Lakes, they should be spent on projects in those same areas. In particular I would suggest finishing the gap in Ison Road left by developers at the intersection with Greens Road. I would like to encourage community members to engage with council officers as part of that draft budget process and ask those questions of them as we move to adopting that budget.

It is not just a case of one bad apple. There are many cases that have been documented, not only in this inquiry but also out in the community, of governance concerns at Wyndham City Council. I do welcome the appointment of not one but two monitors for Wyndham City Council in Jim Gifford and Jo-Anne Mazzeo. It is important that the monitors’ work goes to the heart of those governance concerns. The terms of reference, which are available online for members of the public to read, not only go to some of those concerns around councillor conduct and councillor engagement with members of the public – we saw our previous mayor stood aside for that very issue – but also the appointment of the CEO and some of those internal governance processes when it comes to councillor behaviour and conduct. I would encourage members of the public to read through those terms of reference. I would especially encourage ward councillors, and those ward councillors who signed that statement saying that it was just one bad apple, to reflect on this and work with the monitors at Wyndham City Council to restore confidence and good governance there.

I will continue to work in government, particularly with the Minister for Local Government, using those legislative mechanisms that we have, to restore the confidence and good governance at Wyndham City Council, because it is important. Wyndham City Council partners with the state government on so many different road projects that we have in the area, including our new bridge between Wyndham Vale and Tarneit, as well as the Ison Road project. They partner with us on the delivery of many services as well, so it is important that we restore that trust.

But to return to my original note to Cr Singh: you should really read the room, reflect on those calls by your fellow councillors and by community members and resign.