Major Victory for CoRBA- Melbourne 

Last night (28/05/09) the Melbourne City Council fully supported the CoRBA-Melbourne campaign for structural and electoral reform in the municipality. CoRBA members led the campaign to achieve this most important step to review local government in the Melbourne municipality.

At the packed meeting, a resolution put by Councillor Peter Clarke, after consultation with CoRBA, was passed unanimously by Council.  This, the second such resolution from Council, calls upon the Minster for Local Government, Richard Wynne to immediately commence an electoral and structural review.

Note that at the first meeting of the new Council in December 2008, Councillors honoured their election promise in relation to the need for a review. They requested that Minister Wynne act upon this matter. After 4 months, Minister Wynne finally respond to Council, stating that a review would be conducted ‘in due course”.

This is consistent with the Brumby State government, strategy of Ministerial prevarication. After more than 8 years of public agitation and multiple flawed elections, the State government still refuses to overhaul the electoral and the structure of the City of Melbourne.

1. In the November 2008 election just over 60% of eligible voters actually participated. In other elections where Attendance voting occurred, the participation level reached 80-90%. This confirms CoRBA’s assertion that a high level of voter disengagement is linked to the flawed system.

The text of the Council decision on electoral review will be available on this site as soon as it becomes available later this week.

Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) Election Report 

Note that the CoRBA analysis of the controversial VEC Election Report, currently before Council, has also triggered action within City of Melbourne Administration.

The City of Melbourne manages municipal elections by contracting the VEC to manage the event. The details of the VEC contract are not made public.  CoRBA requested access to the contract but this was refused. Under the law, the VEC must report on each election within 3 months of the election and CoRBA was obviously keen to examine the VEC Election report to access data contained within it.

Why is the data within the VEC Election Report so important?

It is important because it provides concrete evidence to substantiate CoRBA’s claim that the electoral processes and Council structure in our municipality are undemocratic, unrepresentative and cannot be audited.

The VEC report highlights the flaws in the current system by explicitly revealing the various unacceptable elements of this election system – a flawed system that has been condoned for so long by the State government.  It reveals shamefully high levels of civic disengagement, of a constituency struggling to understand bizarre eligibility criteria. It also reveals the impossibility of actually validating the electoral roll.

And how was this VEC Election Report presented to the public?

CoRBA noted with alarm that Council Administration put the report before the full Council on the 14/4/09 – at the last possible moment under the law.  Full Council meetings do not allow for public participation, and thus, the community was rendered unable to respond to important and contentious data within the VEC report.

CoRBA members identified many issues of concern within the 58 page VEC Election report and, in the interests of good governance, we successfully persuaded full Council not to accept the VEC report but instead, as is proper, to defer it to the Finance and Governance committee to allow CoRBA and its affiliates to make submissions on the serious matters within it.

At the Finance and Governance committee meeting, CoRBA members made detailed submissions. We put 18 questions to Council based on the contents of the VEC report. The Melbourne Business Council and the Southbank Residents Group also raised serious matters at the meeting. 

Bear in mind the City of Melbourne commissioned the VEC to conduct the Council elections. The VEC report, ostensibly, the final report actually states that work on the election is, in fact, not yet been complete. The City of Melbourne requires the VEC to pursue non-voters.  However this may be a very difficult task indeed  given the legal constraints placed upon the VEC in this matter. None of financial details VEC contract has been made public including the costs of security.

 
We are pleased that two weeks ago, Councillors at thew Finance and Governance Committee recognised the need for the City of Melbourne Administration in consultation with the VEC, to   provide comprehensive answers to the 18 questions put by CoRBA ASAP – in fact within 3 weeks.

Last night (28/4/09) the full Council  met and unanimously voted to support the CoRBA position on the necessity to  review the Council structure and electoral processes – A victory indeed for good governance and transparency in our municipality.

Minister Wynne cannot continue to thwart the efforts of the Council and of the public campaign to achieve structural and electoral reform in the City of Melbourne.

The blatant stonewalling and political games must cease.