South-Eastern Metropolitan Region
Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (13:01): (1006) My question is to the Minister for Local Government. Given that Casey council is under the Labor state government administration and currently has no councillors, it has recently updated its governance rules to require individuals submitting public questions to be present in the gallery during the reading of their question and response. Considering that council meetings are now scheduled for 4 pm, how can you, Minister, provide assurance that this change will maintain transparency for all residents of Casey? Casey residents have previously submitted a petition with 250 signatures requesting that the monthly Tuesday meetings be changed from 4 to 7 pm to allow more people who have work commitments the opportunity to be able to attend. Even though there is the ability for people to live stream proceedings, they will not be able to ask questions or have them answered in this way. Minister, we want to know an answer.