The Sunbury out of Hume panel report is likely to go before the Coalition cabinet before it sees the light of day publicly.
In a statement to Star Weekly on Monday, Local Government Minister Tim Bull says he hopes to release the government’s response to the Sunbury out of Hume panel report “in the near future”.
He did not mention when or if the panel report itself would be released but has previously indicated it would be, along with almost 200 submissions about the proposed separation, once the government had considered it.
The panel report was delivered to the government on June 30.
“The panel has submitted its report and the government is currently carefully considering the complex issues involved,” Mr Bull said.
He said the government had delivered on its commitment to give the people of Sunbury a say as to whether to remain part of Hume council, citing a controversial poll held in October last year.
“Some 67 per cent of participating Sunbury voters in the poll and 60 per cent of all participating voters from across Hume said they supported establishing a separate council,” Mr Bull said.
These figures are disputed by some locals and deemed unrepresentative by others, particularly communities from Diggers Rest and Tullamarine, which face being subsumed into the new shire based around Sunbury even though they never voted for this to happen.
