Tuesday, 5 March 2024

South-Eastern Metropolitan Region

Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:52): (705) My question is to the Minister for Local Government, and I ask the minister to address and fix a serious issue that has been brought to my attention by concerned residents regarding the scheduling of the monthly council meetings at Casey council. Will the minister instruct commissioners to change the 4 pm meeting time currently scheduled for council meetings to 7 pm to allow more inclusion of the community as requested? Constituents signed a petition to request a more accessible time for council meetings for ratepayers. The request to change from 4 pm to 7 pm on each third Tuesday is to allow more people to attend the meeting and is in line with times adopted by many other councils. Residents have complained that their request has been dismissed and that the refusal to change the meeting time stems from a desire to conclude proceedings before 5 pm, avoiding any obligation to work beyond that hour and limiting public presence at these meetings due to contentious policies which have caused considerable distress within the community.