27th May 2014

Page 1

Mornington

Mornington

27 May 2014

Your guide to what’s on this weekend for peninsula families

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Room for science to look to future MORNINGTON Public School year 6 pupils Meikah and Nick reckon science rocks, although “epic� was their chosen term in describing the opening of the school’s new science centre. Like a large proportion of their fellow pupils, they’ve been queuing up to sign on to school’s new science club, which has access to the numerous items of exploration contained within the centre, including a snake, turtle, axolotyl - and lots of rocks. The new science centre was officially opened last week by Education Minister Martin Dixon, as part of Education Week celebrations, which this year took up the theme: “Scientists do amazing things!�. Headmaster Silvio Vitale said the new centre aimed to help lift the profile of science and encourage pupils to take a hands-on approach to exploring the world around them. “The kids are jumping out of their skins to get involved,� Mr Silvio said. “They love science and the opportunity to experiment and there has been a huge amount of interest in the new club.� The new science centre will be used by the school’s science club during lunchtimes and will also be the venue for the Peninsula Connections after-hours extension program for students across the Mornington Peninsula area who have an aptitude and interest in science. Mr Dixon said science was set to play a critical role in Victoria’s future. “By 2020-21, nearly 90,000 scientists will be employed in Victoria and nearly 255,000 people will be employed in jobs such a medicine, health care, agriculture and architecture for which science skills are essential,� he said.

Walkout ends debate By David Harrison A COUNCILLOR walkout forced the abandonment of the Special Purposes Committee meeting held on 19 May when two confidential items came up for debate. Veteran council watchers could not recall any previous councillor walkout at Mornington Peninsula Shire. It was a dramatic and pivotal moment in shire events. The meeting had reached agenda item 3, “Confidential Items�. The minutes record that “Cr Fraser and Cr Rodgers left the meeting before consideration of this item and did not return�. Hugh Fraser and Tim Rodgers represent Nepean ward.

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The meeting was then adjourned at 5.50pm. The minutes state that “Cr. Colomb left the meeting at 5:50pm during discussion of this item and did not return�. Bev Colomb is a Briars ward councillor. The minutes continue: “Due to no quorum, the Special Purposes Committee Meeting lapsed at 6:04pm.� It is not known what subject the confidential items covered. But it would not be surprising if one item involved the highly contentious Southern Peninsula Aquatic Centre – possibly the only matter divisive enough to spark a response as unprecedented and extraordinary as a councillor walkout. Absent from the meeting were coun-

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cillors Lynn Bowden, Graham Pittock and Frank Martin, who resigned from council the following day due to ill health. The walkout meant only five councillors remained in the chamber – Antonella Celi, David Gibb, Anne Shaw, Andrew Dixon and David Garnock – one short of a quorum. Section 85 of the Local Government Act deals with lack of a quorum at council meetings. It gives the local government minister or a council’s chief executive officer power to require all councillors to attend a “call of the council� meeting. If a councillor does not appear within 30 minutes of the scheduled starting

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time for such a meeting, or does not remain at the meeting, the council CEO “must immediately advise the Minister in writing�, the act states. The minister may then order that “the councillor is incapable of remaining a councillor�. These provisions are broadly aimed at preventing continued disruption of council business by recalcitrant councillors. It is beyond contemplation that councillors Fraser, Rodgers and Colomb would not attend a call of the council meeting, or would walk out of one. It is highly improbable that shire CEO Michael Kennedy would resort to calling such a meeting after just one, albeit

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dramatic, such occurrence. What is certain that the trio were so offended by, and opposed to, the subject matter in the confidential item that they acted to highlight it. While they cannot reveal confidential information without breaching the law, matters such as this have a habit of becoming public. While Cr Fraser, a highly experienced barrister, is in his first term as a councillor, he has rapidly made his mark as a careful and forensic operator. Councillors Colomb and Rodgers are veterans with high reputations for probity and closely examining matters that come before council. See ‘CEO queried over ‘secret’ agenda item’, page 8

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