Filming council meetings
Should cameras be allowed to film non-confidential Council meetings? This question was raised this week as more ash falls from the Ombudsman’s explosive reports.
Councils need to pursue open and transparent democratic decision making and this involves making meetings open and accessible. This may involve access to meeting papers, access to an open question time, media attendance at meetings and even web-casting or recording Council meetings, as in the UK. Participatory democracy can accommodate technological advances and the new ways in which communities participate in decision making.
Let us know what you think.
National Reconciliation Week: 27 May - 3 June 2009
Councils around Victoria have joined with their local indigenous communities to celebrate Reconciliation Week. A reminder that the development of your Council Plan provides a good opportunity to embed reconciliation goals. We outlined this opportunity in an email to Mayors and CEOs earlier this month.
We are aware that Reconciliation Victoria has not been funded in the 2009/2010 State Budget. We will continue to express our strong disappointment about this, and lobby to ensure their important activities can continue.
Online survey in response to Ombudsman’s Report
Our survey received around 250 responses over one week. Thank you for your quick responses.
The results were interesting. About half of the respondents to the relevant question believed a ban on Councillors working as electoral officers should be implemented. A stronger majority of community respondents held this view. The other half of the respondents believed this was not the best way of addressing the concerns raised in the Ombudsman’s report.
Again, opinion is equally divided on whether the current Conflict of Interest provisions are adequate to deal with the issues. There was support, but not overwhelming, for looking at other measures including additional training or Code of Conduct principles.
We will examine these results more closely and discuss the implications with you over the coming weeks.
Taking a position on pokies legislation
In responsible Gambling Awareness Week 2009, Victorians are spending increasing amounts on pokies. The Local Government Working Group On Gambling (LGWGOG) which is a group of over 30 local governments and community organisations concerned with problem gambling, is demanding further amendments to the Gambling Regulation Amendment (Licensing) Bill 2009 when the Parliament reconsiders it in early June.
Victorians spent over $2.5 billion on poker machines in 2008 – over $600 per Victorian adult. Moreover, 28% of Victorians who gamble on pokies on a weekly basis experience gambling problems.
Local Governments have been counting the cost to our communities of pokies, usually placed in areas of disadvantage, and are determined to see measures implemented to minimise their harm – particularly for problem gamblers.
The LGWGOG is therefore calling on all Government and non-Government parties to amend the Bill to:
* bring forward a ban on ATMs within venues and for exemptions only to be allowed in very limited circumstances where there are no alternative electronic banking or EFTPOS services in local communities, and
* strengthen mechanisms for pre-commitment of loss limits as indicative Australian research has found pre-commitment mechanisms that allow gamblers to self-restrict access to cash will be of immediate benefit to problem gamblers, and
* guarantee a minimum license entitlement of between 20 and 30 pokies to protect smaller clubs involved in the ‘highest bidder’ auction.
This last position is not an anti-competitive one. We are hardly talking about a level playing field between say Woolworths and the local bowls.
The social and economic impact of problem gambling on local communities is apparent to local governments across Victoria. LGWGOG members, auspiced by the VLGA, impress upon both Government and non-Government parties that the community expects them to take this opportunity to enact laws that reduce the negative impacts on problem gamblers.
Leading Edge Forum June 4th
Pokies post 2012: the brave new spin?
Don’t forget the VLGA’s June Leading Edge Forum on June 4th pokies post 2012: the brave new spin? With dinner at 6pm and then the LEF starting at 7pm, speakers include pokies activist and Manningham Councillor Stephen Mayne and Chair of the Interchurch Gambling Taskforce Mark Zirnsak.
Further details available at www.vlga.org.au
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