Pothole of the Week
Time to have a conversation about councillor election funding
Debates about political donations often focus on state and federal elections. A recent vote at our local council, however, is a reminder that questions of democratic trust frequently arise at the level closest to home.
A councillor proposed a motion seeking tighter donation rules for local government (Council rejects push for stricter donation rules, The News 9/12/25). It was not framed as an accusation or a challenge to colleagues’ integrity, but as an opportunity to reflect on whether existing arrangements continue to support public confidence.
The council was evenly divided.
The motion was ultimately lost on the deputy mayor’s casting vote. A split decision suggests the issue remains unresolved, one on which many people may hold different views.
Local councils make decisions that shape everyday life, from planning approvals to development and zoning. In smaller and closely connected communities, these decisions can feel particularly immediate. It is in this setting that questions about political donations tend to surface, not as allegations, but as considerations of trust and perception.
Many councillors serve with sincerity and a strong sense of public duty, and that commitment matters. At the same time, democratic systems are often at their strongest when they minimise uncertainty rather than rely solely on goodwill.
More precise disclosure requirements and modest donation limits would not weaken local democracy. They may help reinforce, for councillors and residents alike, the confidence that decisions are made in the public interest.
A casting vote may have brought this motion to a close, but the broader conversation may still be worth having. When democracy operates closest to people’s lives, transparency carries particular weight.
Anne Kruger, Rye
Considered on merit?
Despite the Shire officer’s high-quality and evidence-based report and clear recommendation, the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council voted NOT to object to the controversial expansion of the Arthurs Seat Eagle facility — a decision that raises serious concerns about how decisions are made, particularly by those councillors who frequently vote in a bloc on major items (mayor Marsh, deputy mayor Pingiaro, Cr Allen, Cr Batty, Cr Ranken, Cr Williams).
The proposed upgrade — including a luge track, an oversized observation tower, and other structures — lacks demonstrated value to the community, offering no clear benefits while causing significant environmental damage. It risks disrupting vital wildlife corridors, threatening species like the Powerful Owl, koalas and macropods. The proposed luge track could fragment east-west migration paths, isolating wildlife into smaller, resource-deprived pockets, leading to starvation — an issue already seen at The Briars Sanctuary.
Moreover, the proposal fails to address crucial safety concerns, including bushfire risks, landslides, and erosion, due to the steep terrain. There is also no clarity on who will bear the costs for environmental restoration, parking infrastructure, and public safety – economic costs lack quantification. These long-term expenses are likely to fall on the community, not the developers who stand to profit.
This proposal contradicts the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council Plan 2025–2029, which prioritises the protection of our natural environment and community well-being. Approving this development would be inconsistent with the council’s governance principles, which emphasise transparency, responsiveness, and prioritising community needs over commercial interests. It also undermines key strategic objectives related to environmental resilience and the long-term health and safety of the community. The proposal is also not in line with the Shire’s own Planning Policy Framework and internal referral responses.
Do we have a council that is genuinely acting in the interest of the community and representing its electorate? It appears not.
Anja Ottensmeyer, Mt Martha
Councillor commitments
It is fascinating to see the acrobatics of our current class of Mornington Peninsula councillors.
Here’s my challenge, read back over their election material and with every single one of them, they promised, if elected, that they would be more consultative with the community on issues affecting ratepayers, they said they would ensure future development would not impact on our green spaces or be out of context with the current environment and they promised that would protect the uniqueness of the Mornington Peninsula.
Now take a look at how they are operating and with the decisions they are making since they have been elected.
Now on a totally different and unrelated topic, when you were at high school, did any of you read George Orwell’s book – Animal Farm? I did and I found it to be required reading.
Bob Impey, Mornington
Block voting
The 5–5 defeat of Cr David Gill’s motion to strengthen election-donation rules at Mornington Peninsula Shire Council is yet another nail in the coffin of transparency — and yet another attempt by a voting block to push back against accountability, consultation, and public scrutiny (Council rejects push for stricter donation rules, The News 9/12/25)
Gill’s proposal was hardly radical. It simply asked for basic democratic safeguards: real-time disclosure of donations, clearer limits on who can donate, and caps on late-campaign money that can distort elections in the shadows. These are standard reforms in any council that takes integrity seriously.
Yet the majority voted it down, again. And the obvious question is why?
Perhaps because tighter rules would mean a proper deep dive into large contributions through corporate vehicles. The public deserves absolute clarity about who is influencing whom.
The refusal to support Notice of Motion 506 (Cr Gill) — aimed squarely at improving accountability around election donations — fits the broader pattern. Over the past term, the majority have consistently voted down transparency measures, community-driven consultation efforts, and any motion that would allow ratepayers to see more clearly how decisions are made and who benefits.
Each blocked reform chips away at trust. Each rejected request for disclosure signals that secrecy is becoming standard operating procedure. And each time the public asks for accountability, the answer from the bloc seems to be some version of “no need to look here.”
The peninsula community deserves far better than a council majority that treats transparency as a threat rather than a duty. Hopefully some are keeping track!
Joe Lenzo, Safety Beach
Changes to rates
An item for discussion at the February meeting of the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council is listed as “proposed changes to rate payments. The proposal is to do away with allowing ratepayers to pay rates in full when due on the scheduled date for payment which is always a date in February.
It is my understanding that Victorian local councils cannot refuse a full lump sum payment of your rates if you choose that option. The Local Government Act 1989 (Section 167) requires councils to offer ratepayers the option to pay their rates in four installments but it also allows for payment in a lump sum. I have always paid my rates in full on or before the due date and will continue to do so. If the rate notice has a due by date then that is the date that payment is due. If a ratepayer chooses to pay by installments, whether fortnightly, monthly or quarterly, then that is their option.
I have no intention of giving authority to the shire to deduct funds from my bank account or credit card and I don’t believe I can legally be forced to do so if I want to pay my rates in full when due.
I see this proposed change as a cash grabbing exercise of getting payment equalling two rate installments, or half the full amount of the rates, before the due date for payment in full.
Imagine purchasing goods or paying a tradie and being told no we can’t take payment in full, you have to pay in installments.
Helen Lord, Mt Eliza
Climate plan
It is pleasing that the Mornington Peninsula Shire has somewhat reversed its ill considered decision to scrap the climate action plan that council had adopted in 2020 (Councillors vote in new climate roadmap after emergency scrapped, The News 9/12/25).
This new plan called a hopeful “climate resilience framework” may help redress the situation it thoughtlessly created. Whilst the new plan is, it appears, to be only at concept stage we can hope that it does develop into more than just a snazzy title.
Ross Hudson, Mt Martha
Obligations being met?
In the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s meeting on 2 December, Cr Max Patton referred to the council’s “legislative obligations” on climate (Councillors vote in new climate roadmap after emergency scrapped, The News 9/12/2025).
The Local Government Act 2020 contains two such requirements.
First, councils must “promote the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the municipal district, including mitigation and planning for climate change risks.”
Second, that “decision-making is supported by robust and transparent practices, and that the long-term adverse consequences of climate change for future generations are incorporated into council planning, decisions and actions.”
While the proposed “climate resilience framework” appears to meet the second requirement, it appears not to adequately address “mitigation” in the first.
Climate mitigation means reducing or preventing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing carbon sinks such as urban forests, shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy, improving energy efficiency and adopting low-emission transport. The 2020 climate action plan set specific targets for these measures and was widely regarded.
Unless the council reverses its April 2025 decision to revoke that plan, it is hard to see how its full obligations under the Act are being met.
It is also hard to see how savings like the $6.6m in reduced community and Shire energy costs as reported in the 2023/24 Climate Emergency Plan Progress Report will continue to be made.
Ray Peck, Hawthorn
Rabbit problem
After roads and planning issues the most community feedback I currently receive is about the uncontrolled rabbit population.
Farmers and residents alike are concerned with literally being eaten out of house and farm. Problems include road accident issues and environmental effects; hundreds of native species are threatened because of rabbit populations.
The only questions are whose responsibility is it, and what can be done about rabbits?
The answers are inconclusive though I believe…
1. Council is responsible for its managed public land such as bush reserves
2. The State Government is responsible for pest and noxious weed control implemented by owners of horticultural and agricultural properties and State managed crown land such as national parks
3. Nobody is responsible for rabbits in residential areas.
It is time for governments to co-ordinate action to help keep rabbits under control.
It seems the only effective measure, though drastic, is to use the readily available calicivirus biological control. This needs to be co-ordinated and strategic, it must be spread at the right time of the year, or increased immunity may result. It should not be released during July through to December.
At present this is done legally by private and public entities, but it is only really effective if we begin to co-ordinate the release across State, Local Government and private properties in regions like the Mornington Peninsula.
Rabbits do not recognise boundaries.
Cr David Gill, Coolart Ward
Disabled beach access
Thank you to Bill James (Good News, Letters 9/12/25) for his heartwarming observations.
Anyone interested in disabled beach access at Frankston can find detailed information on:
My understanding is that disabled beach access will be available at Frankston, near the pier, each Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10.30am – 2.30pm until the end of February.
Joan Law, Mornington
Part-time cop shop
Slim Dusty’s “The Pub With No Beer” was a great hit for the artist. He should make a come back with a song about Hastings Police Station and give it the title “the cop shop with no cops”.
Out of twelve visits to this station over the past two weeks, I got access twice.
Surely that does not meet the “pub test”.
Brian McAnallen, Hastings
Cyclists, where are you?
Your excellent Pothole campaign must be causing embarrassment with Local and State Government public servants. It has caused a number to be fixed.
A couple of cyclists have rung me recently to make the point that the edges of many of our roads are absolutely devastating to those trying to hug the left, or being forced by inconsiderate motorists off the road. Come on now! Be active and send in photographs of the tyre threatening and dangerous edges on the Mornington Peninsula roads. As ratepayers and taxpayers we deserve better.
Keep the blowtorch on those responsible.
Ranald Macdonald, Flinders
Parking at Frankston
Public parking is in short supply near Frankston Beach, yet six prominently-placed permit parking spots still exist for “Sofia’s Restaurant” staff.
The restaurant is defunct, presumably the staff are non-existent. Why does council not remove the permits and open up the space for the public?
Virginia Barnett, Mt Waverley
Two-tiered society
In Victoria recently, those advocating for the treaty have ignored the dangers race-based laws pose to our democracy. The letter from Joe Lenzo (Treaty Claims Absurd, Letters 2/12/2025) was simply more of the same.
Mr Lenzo’s letter took issue with Institute of Public Affairs’ research, claiming Victoria’s new treaty body is simply advisory and will not result in special rights nor interfere with government. While Mr Lenzo is entitled to his opinion, the legislation itself suggests otherwise.
Victoria’s new treaty laws create a race-based body, Gellung Warl, where only Aboriginal Victorians can vote. That is, by definition, a special right. And while every Victorian will pay for this new body, it will answer only to this select group.
It is not merely advisory but effectively a fourth branch of government. The legislation recognises the “unique status” of Aboriginal people and gives the body “decision-making powers”, including the ability to make substantive rules. That is the basis for a two-tiered legal system, which the Treaty Authority openly supports, stating in its annual report its mandate to “uphold two systems of law – Aboriginal and Western”.
Mr Lenzo cites AAP FactCheck as an authority on the treaty. However, Australians have not forgotten its partisan censorship during the Voice to Parliament debate, where 93% of its fact-checking articles targeted claims made by those critical of the Voice. Bias writ large.
While fair-minded Australians want better outcomes for Aboriginal Australians, one thing they have overwhelmingly rejected at the ballot box is race-based laws. Such laws pave the way for a two-tiered society.
Margaret Chambers, Research Fellow, Institute of Public Affairs
Painting a picture
May I remind your correspondent, Mechelle Cheers (Rest your case, Letters 10/12/25), who seems unable to distinguish between argument and personal abuse, that a few hundred years ago it was an “accepted fact” that the world was flat?
Perhaps she could now let us all know what she considers to be “the worst prejudices of (my) generation”, and which of my utterances she considers to be proof of such prejudices.
In response to her final question, in the dim distant past I did once or twice experiment with painting by numbers, but found that I prefer to make original works.
Three of my efforts are currently on display in Oak Hill Gallery in Mornington, if she would like to see them.
Albert Riley, Mornington
Oh… wait…
It’s wonderful to see local Albert Riley taking another firm stand against those pesky indigenous people (Against Treaty, Letters 2/12/25).
I’m with you Albert, why don’t they all just go back to where they come from?
Oh, hang on …
David Martin, Mt Martha
New Year’s resolution
Would VicRoads please:
1. Re-paint the white lines at Anthony’s Nose to make bike lanes both ways.
2. Trim foliage on Rosebud roundabouts so drivers can see other cars.
These seem like “no-brainers” to me but…
Warwick Spinaze, Rosebud
Marvellous Main Street
I have written in the past to complain about the dismal drabness of the Mornington Main Street’s lacklustrer Christmas decorations, and I use the term decorations loosely.
But lo and behold a wondrous transformation has occurred and suddenly the Main Street is fun and festive and it’s all thanks to The Ladies Who Knit…and Crochet .
Well done to you all who ever you are. You have brought Christmas cheer back to Mornington.
Carole Saunders, Mornington
Christmas colour
After living in Mornington for a few years and seeing Christmas decorations of cardboard wrapped around poles with “Seasons Greetings” or “Happy Holidays” what a lovely surprise to finally see “Happy Christmas”. Whoever decided on this, thank you.
All we need now are a few twinkling lights in the trees on Main Street and it would look magical.
Happy Christmas everyone.
Anne Robinson, Mornington
Bells for Christmas?
Walking on the paths of the peninsula, getting the steps up, listening to the birds and admiring the flowering plants is one of the precious pleasures of living in this part of the world.
We, at Somers, have received a walk ride path from Stans Reserve up to and joining a path along Sandy Point Road. It is 2 metres wide and runs between 500mm and 3 metres of the adjacent property lines. I am finding with increasing frequency, the need to shout after bike riders coming up behind and passing me unannounced to “Get a bell for Christmas”.
Common courtesy should suggest that using a simple, inexpensive tool such as a bike bell to warn a pedestrian in a timely fashion that you are coming up behind them and intend to pass, would be only logical. It seems it is not.
My biggest offending demographic seems to be 25 to 45+ males in lycra with all the trimmings.
Strange because I would have thought they would have been the best informed through their bike riding clubs and group touring packs. Can we, the schools, the bike riding clubs and parents address this issue?
What about a “buy a bike bell for Christmas” push? A stocking filler or a Chris Kringle. They only cost between $5 and $15 and would prevent an accident that may well avoid a retired or elderly person from spending Christmas in hospital.
To all those that do ring their bells, thank you.
Michelle Gregory, Somers
The News
The title says it all. I imagine there is a dearth of letters congratulating The News on a job well done. But this is one.
I’m an avid reader, and recognise the steady emergence of an invaluable part of our Mornington Peninsula.
This letters page is always interesting, and reflects the range of views in our community. From those regular contributors who ‘can’t help themselves’ and provide pithy entertainment, to those with well known views, there are always letters that inform, surprise, and provide food for thought.
But the newspaper generally is a vital communication for our community. I’ve watched it steadily grow.
This week’s edition is a prime example of a journal that informs us of real news. From the amusing to the serious, there’s local information that we would never receive in any other way. You’re our watchdog on community, governance, and general information.
Well done on providing that vital link for the Mornington Peninsula. Long may it continue.
Mike Wilton, Safety Beach
Say a few words?
Pre-Christmas pondering. “Poverty is a personality defect” – Margaret Thatcher. Nonsense obviously, from a bully.
To say the Liberal Party is in a state of disarray is the understatement of my 89 years.
As good a time as any to sack 350 CSIRO workers? Christmas around the corner; from Hoffer, Eric “You can never get enough of what you don’t need to make you happy.”
I particularly like the line “Please put a penny in the old man’s hat.” Or Michael Leunig’s “There’s nowhere to turn – except the heavens and the stars.” True enough.
A calming effect, through these next six weeks; staying with Midsommer Murders, Poirot.
Mark Twain: “In religion and politics, people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue, but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.”
Wishing former WA senator Linda Reynolds compensation or at least an apology, facing bankruptcy (Brittany Higgins rape claim $2.4m settlement) not to mention the nasty responses from Anthony Albanese and Senator Penny Wong.
Politics; Me first, public maybe; crooks; billions to the Yanks (AUKUS review?) and chopped out my $90 a quarter from electricity bills?
Finally cricket, being a Steve Smith man happy with the first two test results, not so no Steve Smith ‘man of the match’ – the next three of no concern. My Christmas message – smile, we are on Candid Camera. Even so…
Cliff Ellen, Rye
Beyond Blue here for you
The festive season can be a joyous time for many people, as they take a well-earned break from work and school and spend time with family and friends. It’s a time to rest and reset for the new year.
Yet for others, this time of year can be particularly difficult and distressing, and a time they hope will pass quickly.
It can bring additional financial pressures, strain relationships, and heighten feelings of loneliness. The festive season may also intensify isolation, particularly for those separated from family or grieving the loss of a loved one.
So, as we head into the holiday break, we want Australians to know that regardless of what they’re dealing with, they don’t have to face it alone.
The Beyond Blue Support Service is free, confidential, and available around the clock, including on Public Holidays. You can call 1300 22 46 36 or chat online at www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support.
It’s common to put off seeking help because we can’t quite find the words to express our needs.
But when you contact us, you don’t have to know what to say. Our skilled counsellors will meet you where you’re at and guide you towards where you need to be.
And finally, a big thank-you to everyone who has donated to Beyond Blue this year. Our support service is run purely on donations, so your kindness and generosity allow us to always be there when people need us the most.
Georgie Harman AO, CEO of Beyond Blue