Should a compulsory vote be held? Is there support for an independent Sunbury even if annual rates were to increase significantly?
These were among questions posed by auditors investigating Sunbury’s planned separation from Hume during a largely polite public meeting last Friday.
There were none of the fireworks feared in some quarters. Friday’s meeting in the Sunbury Memorial Hall was the first since a heated gathering at Broadmeadows last September, after which a probe was launched into the alleged behaviour of two councillors. The general mood on Friday indicated support for a final, compulsory vote on Sunbury’s separation, which is among the options available to auditors Frank Vincent and John Watson, who will make recommendations to state Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins by August 31.
About 250 people – including representatives of Sunbury Residents Association (SRA), Sunbury Community Progress Association, Broadmeadows Progress Association, council staff and the Australian Services Union – were there to hear the two auditors share their thoughts on the information they had gathered.
Mr Vincent noted a “very significant” percentage of residents took part in the non-compulsory 2013 poll that paved the way for Sunbury’s separation.
‘‘The question becomes ‘What was it that they voted upon?’,’’ the retired Supreme Court judge said, reflecting on a perceived vagueness in the original question.
Confusion about what was at stake was borne out on Friday night, with some residents saying they thought the poll was about merely indicating an interest in the matter being investigated, and others maintaining it was a hard and fast vote on secession.
The auditors also covered issues raised in information sheets released throughout June – from possible impacts on rates through to service delivery and population growth – and acknowledged the limitations of previous studies.
Pro-split supporters, including SRA president Bernie O’Farrell, defended the validity of the 2013 vote, while Western Metropolitan Liberal MP Bernie Finn was roundly booed after asking whether people could trust that the result of a second poll would be respected.
