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20 APRIL, 2022
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Jazzing up Newport The Newport Jazz Festival is back on in 2022, promising to be bigger and better than ever. The Melbourne Jazz Jammers present three epic days of jazz music from April 29 - May 1 with over 60 bands playing across seven venues in the Hobsons Bay suburb of Newport. The festival is in its second year, having run for the fist time in 2021 in between lockdowns. Festival organiser Ted Woollan said the initial idea to start the festival was the result of a desire to set up a ’country town style’ festival in the city. “We thought there was a need for a festival for bands that are based principally in Melbourne,” he said. “The feedback that we got from the festival [last year] was two things, one was everything was within walking distance, was actually within sight … quite unlike any other Jazz Festivals in Victoria … and the other thing that kept coming up [was] people [saying] it’s so great … we’re meeting other musicians and we’re meeting audience fans … it was very open and friendly. “So we’ve actually used that as a tag this year, Newport Jazz Festival, a friendly festival. That’s really what we’re aiming for it to be.” Jazz singer Sarah Maclaine will be performing at the 2022 Newport Jazz Festival.
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Hobsons Bay video row By Molly Magennis A state MP has raised concerns over a Hobsons Bay council rule which requires councillors to ask for permission before posting videos online of themselves from council meetings. Western Metropolitan Liberal MP Bernie Finn raised the issue in parliament on March 23, saying it was something he felt very strongly about. “I find it a little bit bemusing when unelected officers seem to have more power than elected councillors,” he said. “It seems to me to defeat
the purpose of having a council if you are going to allow these officers to run roughshod over elected councillors.” Mr Finn then made reference to Hobsons Bay council, where councillors must first ask officers for permission before they can post their council meeting contribution on social media. “I find it absolutely astonishing that an elected councillor who has made a speech at the council meeting has to then go and ask some unelected officer for his or her permission to use the video of their speech on their Facebook
page,” he said. He then proceeded to ask Local Government Minister Shaun Leane to “step in” and speak to Hobsons Bay council to make sure councillors have control of what they post on social media. Mr Finn posted a video of his speech to his own Facebook page, which was then shared by Hobsons Bay councillor Daria Kellanders to her page. She thanked him for raising the issue in parliament and said it was her “understanding that a number of councils already have various overreaching restrictions on elected councillors
limiting their ability to share their views.” In response to Mr Finn’s concerns, Hobsons Bay council said the rules were in place to protect staff and councillors. “When the livestream is posted on a councillor’s private social media pages or websites, council is unable to monitor social media comments, including comments which may be defamatory,” a council spokesperson said. “Council has a duty of care to employees and to councillors and this includes protecting them from defamatory comments.”
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