The Israel-Hamas war has sparked turmoil in Victorian councils

The Israel-Hamas war has sparked turmoil in Victorian councils

Heated debates over the Israel-Hamas war have increased tensions within some Victorian councils,with bans on a call for a ceasefire,backflips over a solidarity motion and even death threats.

  • byMelissa Cunningham

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A dialysis machine,two local councils and one ‘tangled bureaucratic web’

A dialysis machine,two local councils and one ‘tangled bureaucratic web’

A 72-year-old widow suffered “a catalogue of misfortune and mistakes” after building a structure specifically designed to house her son’s dialysis machine,the Ombudsman has found.

  • byBroede Carmody
Taxpayers to fund councils’ axed Commonwealth Games jobs

Taxpayers to fund councils’ axed Commonwealth Games jobs

Victorians will pay six-figure salaries for specially appointed Commonwealth Games directors at local councils even though the Games have been cancelled.

  • byRachael Dexter
Lifeguards to remain on Geelong beaches,but council slashes funding for charities and arts

Lifeguards to remain on Geelong beaches,but council slashes funding for charities and arts

Angry library supporters chanted ‘vote them out’ from the public gallery after councillors approved the 2023-24 budget,which they say will lead to reduced library hours.

  • byBenjamin Preiss
Keeping up the fight:Why towns are desperate to halt wave of bank closures

Keeping up the fight:Why towns are desperate to halt wave of bank closures

Almost 170 Victorian bank branches have closed in the past two and half years. But communities from the city to the regions keep fighting to retain them,some scoring unlikely victories.

  • byBenjamin Preiss andRachael Dexter
‘It’s very confronting’:Murdered Moira Shire manager’s family still grieves as council implodes
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Violence

‘It’s very confronting’:Murdered Moira Shire manager’s family still grieves as council implodes

The sister and mother of Rick Devlin say he may still be alive if the scandal-plagued Moira Council had addressed its workplace culture issues.

  • byBenjamin Preiss
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‘I’m disgusted’:Moira Shire counts the cost of wasted years

‘I’m disgusted’:Moira Shire counts the cost of wasted years

From a missing stadium and a levee that never came to toxic waste,residents of Moira Shire had plenty of reasons to be disappointed in their council.

  • byBenjamin Preiss
Calls for management clean-out at Moira Shire after damning report

Calls for management clean-out at Moira Shire after damning report

The union representing workers at the troubled Moira Shire Council wants a clear-out after a damning report led to the sacking of councillors.

  • byBenjamin Preiss
‘Catastrophic event’:Moira Shire Council sacked after employee murder
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Crime

‘Catastrophic event’:Moira Shire Council sacked after employee murder

The death of Victorian council worker Rick Devlin sparked a seven-month investigation that has uncovered a litany of failures by the council’s dysfunctional leadership.

  • byBenjamin Preiss andSumeyya Ilanbey
Acting CEO of City of Geelong takes own council to court over controversial planning decision

Acting CEO of City of Geelong takes own council to court over controversial planning decision

The senior executive is mounting a legal challenge after the council rejected his plans for a subdivision on a property with links to Phar Lap.

  • byBenjamin Preiss andSophie Aubrey
Council rates are going up again,just not as much as everything else

Council rates are going up again,just not as much as everything else

Ratepayers will fork out up to 3.5 per cent more next year,but councils say they are still wrangling with the hit this year from surging inflation.

  • byLachlan Abbott