Tuesday, 17 February 2026

 David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (14:44): Today I want to talk about Kingston council in my electorate, which overlaps into South-East Metro as well. The government has repeatedly put monitors in place there, but it is the influence of the two Staikos brothers that is much questioned here, with the Minister for Local Government Nick Staikos’s attempts to throw his weight around at meetings with local councillors. Also the current head of the Labor Party, state secretary Staikos, is also very closely connected with Kingston on all of these matters. There is the question of grants which have been made outside the Kingston area. There are questions about how that is operating, and –

The PRESIDENT: Mr Davis, you cannot make accusations against a sitting member unless it is in a substantive motion.

David DAVIS: I am not sure that I have made terrible allegations.

The PRESIDENT: Well, no, I think you have, so I would caution you to stop doing that. I will let you continue.

David DAVIS: The councillors there – and this is across all backgrounds, Labor, independent and others – are all very much pushing back on Labor’s behaviour in the City of Kingston, including the Staikos brothers, but especially the duo – I will call them the duo instead. The fact is that there are those who are on the council who are sick of the interventions, are sick of the pressure and wish to get on and work for the local community and the council. It is time that – (Time expired)