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Council’s Cost Claims on FOI Not Adding Up from Finance Department

On page 25 in the adopted Council budget (June 2020), notes say ” 2. An additional Freedom of Information (FOI) officer has been included as well as increasing hours for current FOI staff to manage a significant increase in FOI requests. Increase of $133,000.”

A report at the time quoted Council’s Acting Director Corporate and Community Services, Tracey Costello as saying the budget for addressing FOI requests by ratepayers had now reached a staggering $190,000 per annum.

Mr Clifford Hayes (Member for Southern Metropolitan) Asks Minister to Release South Gippsland Councillor Submissions

Question: To ask the Minister for Local Government: In relation to the former Minister for Local Government, the Hon Adem Somyurek’s correspondence to the South Gippsland Shire Council of 2 April 2019, which stated “I will make the monitor report and any Council or Councillor responses public once any submissions from the Council have been duly considered”

President Trump and First Lady Catch Covid-Now in Quarantine

One of President Trumps closets advisors, Ms Hope hicks, tested positive for covid yesterday forcing the President and First Lady to get tested. Both tests came back positive, so the President and First Lady have now entered 14-day quarantine.

Breaking News Travel Bubble with New Zealand Agreed

New Zealanders can travel freely to NT and NSW if they have been in New Zealand for 14 days and do not come from any hotspot zones.

States can participate if they follow the commonwealth hot spot definitions.

No quarantine if they come from non-hotspot areas.

Australian Govt will support “green lanes” at borders to collect information from New Zealanders when they arrive to allow contact tracing if needed.

Victorian Forestry Plan or No Plan?

The Victorian Government has developed the Victorian Forestry Plan to assist the industry as it manages its gradual transition away from native forest harvesting to a plantation-based timber supply.

The plan shown here contains detail about how to financially compensate those in the industry who desire or must depart the industry as timber production reduces. Nothing is mentioned in this report about where the replacement timber will come from to replace the currently acquired native sawlogs.

Administrators Inefficient in producing the Efficiency report 9 months late.

An annual initiative of the Council Plan 2017-2021 was to ‘identify efficiency measures that Council has achieved since the introduction of the Victorian Rate Capping System and present a report to Council by 30 December 2019.’