THERE is more to the furore whipped up by Member for Mildura Jade Benham over a trip to France.
Being sick with COVID, I was not part of the council’s December decision to allow the mayor to go to Yamagata but not Villers Bretonneux.
However, I would have voted with Cr (Les) McPhee’s compromise motion to allow one trip overseas, not two.
I have always considered such trips to be junkets and a waste of ratepayers’ money.
Swan Hill Council has two sister cities and both sent us invites to attend events in 2024.
Cr McPhee’s argument was that Mayor Cr (Stuart) King had already been on leave (three weeks) and this mayoral term is a short one, not a full 12 months, as there is a local government election in October.
Cr McPhee pointed out that being mayor is a big role (he should know, he has done it for six terms), that community perceptions are important and the mayor needs to be in the community working.
He also noted that there is no economic benefit from such trips.
In the chamber, Cr (Nicole) McKay spoke against the motion, saying that the relationship with Robinvale and Villers Bretonneux is very important and long-standing and she suggested an alternative person go.
The motion passed 4-1, with Crs (Bill) Moar, (Chris) Jeffery, McPhee and (Ann) Young supporting the motion.
Council met again on January 30 for an unscheduled meeting to deliberate again on the France trip.
At that meeting, I brought up that rather than compare how many times council has been to Yamagata or Villers B in past 20 years, it is more relevant to know how many times we have been invited to each and accepted or declined that invite? That has not been made public.
At that meeting, Crs Moar, McKay and Jeffery voted to allow the mayor to attend the trip to France.
The Guardian story “Sister city visit approved” had an error, as the vote was not unanimous.
For MP Jade Benham, and then Peter Walsh to conduct a media pile-on about this issue is really poor form.
It is totally fair for them to have an opinion, to communicate that to us, and try to change the outcome.
But to go to the media with a tantrum and abusing council is awkward, unprofessional and shows disrespect.
Remember, Ms Benham is a past councillor/mayor who saw fit to take leave from the mayoralship in July 2022 and not resign till January 2023, leaving council one councillor down for six months, and for much of that time, needing an acting mayor. So we know where her allegiances lie.
There is a lot to do in Robinvale. It has some terrible statistics and serious needs for housing, education, childcare etc.
I can assure Ms Benham, Robinvale is not, (according to her) “out of sight or out of mind” to me or Swan Hill Council.
But a trip by the mayor to France will solve none of Robinvale’s issues.
Cr Jacquie Kelly
Swan Hill
