Last week, I had an opportunity to speak at the Victorian Electoral Commission public hearing, with regards to the new electoral boundaries for Brimbank. The only other person to speak, was a representative (name withheld) from Council’s Governance team. Our two presentations were vastly different.
Brimbank City Council’s submission was predominantly centred around wanting to maintain its 11 current Councillors and ensuring the shapes of the wards and their names, were not too confusing for voters. They did mention that communities of interest should be maintained, but this was focused strongly on the South of the municipality, specifically citing the Sunshine area and stating they “...preferred Model 2 predominantly on the basis that it felt it was most effective at keeping communities of interest together… in particular it groups communities in the South”.
Council did not consult with members of the community directly; their submission was based purely on their own bureaucratic thoughts of what is best for us, with a level of humanity akin to that of a statistician.
My approach was focused purely on community. I advocated strongly for Model 3 as it provided geographically smaller wards and better boundaries, in both the North and Central parts of the municipality. It also provided more Councillors to these often neglected suburbs and connected communities of interest across the entire municipality, not just the South. When I considered the options, I did not look at the numbers, shapes or names; I looked at the communities within the boundaries and what their interests are.
The main difference between Council’s preferred Model 2 and my preferred Model 3, is that the Sunshine area would have one more Councillor dedicated to it in Model 2. In Model 3, the North would receive an additional Councillor to represent them.
I spoke to Council’s history of preferencing the old Sunshine Council areas, over the old Keilor Council areas and their presentation at the hearing, certainly seemed to confirm this. Many residents have often spoken to the fact that it is generally the Sunshine and St. Albans areas that see festivals, events, and infrastructure developed, whilst suburbs in the Central and Northern districts, see very little from Council. As one resident said recently, ‘Brimbank is bigger than Sunshine’.
These are the stories I took to my community focused presentation.
#VEC #VicPol #Brimbank #Council #KeepOurCommunityFair #EqualityNow