For years, the Victorian Local Governance Association has fought to define itself as the council sector’s gender equality champion. That was the pitch. More women in council chambers. More support for women candidates. More training. More recognition. More government partnership. On its own, that is not a bad cause. Councils should reflect the communities they represent. But the VLGA’s latest constitutional changes show something much bigger is now underway. This is no longer

The first results from the National Council Census 2026 are in - and they are savage. Around 5,000 participants nationwide have had your say. This is not a mild protest vote. It is not a few angry residents venting after a bad planning decision or a rates notice shock. These numbers point to something much bigger: a national collapse in confidence in local government. The early no-confidence indicators are brutal: 89.4% THINK COUNCIL WASTES MONEY 85.2% SAY COUNCIL DOES NOT MA

Wyndham City Council is asking councillors this week, to adopt a new suite of privacy and integrity policies. On the surface, they sound responsible: privacy, transparency, whistleblower protection, fraud control and modern governance. But read the fine print and a very different picture emerges. This is a policy package that gives Council enormous internal power over residents’ information, staff conduct, investigations, surveillance, AI use and complaint handling - while of

The Municipal Association of Victoria wants you to believe it’s delivering results with its new “State Council Resolution Dashboard.” But dig deeper and the truth is brutal. Behind that slick interface sits a 146-page document of motions, advocacy requests, and recycled demands to the State Government - everything from housing, roads, climate, gambling, waste, policing, even bus shelters. Page after page reads the same: “Call on the State Government…” “Advocate for funding…

Council Watch has gone line-by-line through the Draft Budget… not the glossy summary, but the actual numbers. And what we found should make every ratepayer stop and think. They are spending MORE on computers and IT than they are on roads. Yes. Seriously. FIRST – THE OPERATING MONEY PIT Before a single road is fixed or project delivered, this is where your money disappears: • Materials and services: $252.720M • Employee costs: $234.131M • Depreciation: $78.534M That’s HALF A B

Melbourne’s push to flood established suburbs with high-rise apartments is running headlong into a problem no planning map can wish away: the numbers are not stacking up. Across 60 designated activity hubs, zoning changes now permit towers up to 20 storeys and beyond near major transport investments. On paper, the housing yield is immense. Capacity runs into the hundreds of thousands of dwellings. In reality, only a fraction of those homes are commercially viable under curren

While the engines roar at Albert Park and the government celebrates a multi-million-dollar spectacle, Middle Park residents say they are the ones left paying the real price - and they’re pointing the finger squarely at City of Port Phillip. For four days each year, nearly half a million racegoers descend on the area. Locals say what follows is predictable: footpaths buried under dumped e-scooters and e-bikes, driveways blocked, cars crammed into every available strip of aspha

To the extent that I, (Dean Hurlston) have made statements about Cr Jami Klisaris that may have negatively impacted her reputation and standing within the community, I regret doing so. I wish to apologise for any such statements and withdraw them entirely. I wish to apologise for any distress caused to Cr Klisaris for the way these statements were made.