Wednesday, 22 August, 2018
Pakenham
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Freight call to ease the truck squeeze
What’s In A Name looks at Akoonah Park
It’s Beer O’Clock for a famous Brooker
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Health message Hird loud and clear It may have been all about the blokes and their health, but keynote speaker James Hird caught up with a few of the volunteer helpers at Friday's Cardinia Casey Biggest Ever Blokes Lunch, from left, Rosie Webster, Nicole Membrey, Di Price, Kylie Kimberley, Wendy Goldsack, Di Tracey, Donna Fromhold, Kerry Howe, Caroline Hughes, Gaylene Howe and Lisa Bould. For more on the big event - which raised $130,000 for prostate cancer research and men's health - turn to pages 4-6 and Sport. 184158 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS
Jeremy Keysers and Michael Spencer from Spencer Group Engineering have a laugh at the lunch. 184158
Donation rebuke Cardinia Shire’s discreet donations are set to be publicly exposed and scrutinised, with a $15,000 yearly ratepayer donation to the Pakenham Racing Club coming under fire. The revelation sparked mixed reactions from councillors, who debated the ethics of bankrolling the gambling industry while soup kitchens are bursting at the seams. It coincides with a motion successfully passed by Cr Michael Schilling on Monday night, which would require all of the council’s grants to abide by a “liveability” model. Under the model, financial donations would be required to “work towards the health and wellbeing of our local community”. The $15,000 has been gifted to the Pakenham Racing Club since as early as 2010, total-
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convoluted and hypocritical message to the broader community.” Cr Ray Brown took aim at the motion, claiming his colleagues fell silent when an exorbitant amount of money was splashed on a sports complex. “I’ve got confidence in our officers that they aren’t throwing money around willy-nillingly,” he said. “I don’t see what this report is going to bring to the table because I’m no expert in the knowledge of what an organisation needs. “I think it is taking aim at the small fish. “I can recall a sporting facility going up and there wasn’t a whimper about the extravagant money that was used. “In no way should we be seen as moral police.”
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With the motion passed, Cardinia Shire will be forced to disclose all donations from the past two years - including their value - before October’s general council meeting. Council donations will then be assessed to determine if they align with the 2017-2029 Liveability Plan. However, the funding is a two-way streak - with the Pakenham Racing Club donating money to support a number of Cardinia Shire initiatives. The club is required to, as a condition for the number of poker machines it operates. Former mayor Brett Owen supported the motion, but acknowledged it could have repercussions. “Council has to make some decisions and it might have some adverse impacts,” he said.
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ling more than $120,000 to date. It was awarded under a sponsorship agreement for the club’s Kids Night Out event. Cr Schilling questioned Cardinia Shire’s decision to furnish the corporation while homeless languish in the region’s streets. “I cannot in good conscience go to sleep at night knowing we are supporting something that could be having a poor effect on the health of our residents,” he said. “I’m not saying the family day should stop, I’m just saying the business model of the organisation is around gambling and I’m not sure we should be supporting that. “As a council, by donating money to any organisation that does not align with our strategic outcomes, I believe, is counterintuitive, inadvertently places additional stress on our community resources and sends a somewhat
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By Rowan Forster
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