Nathan Spicer looks back at the events and issues from December in The Guardian’s Year in Review series.
Friday, December 16
• It was announced a countback to replace newly elected Member for Mildura Jade Benham on Swan Hill Rural City Council would be conducted on January 16. The vacancy will be filled by a countback of all formal votes from the 2020 council election.
• Emergency services handed over flood recovery to Swan Hill Council, but response capacity was to remain. Swan Hill’s incident control centre was decommissioned at the CFA district headquarters, with responsibility handed over to Gannawarra and Swan Hill councils to co-ordinate the communities’ recovery.
Tuesday, December 20
• Convicted murderer Adrian Basham claimed he was innocent as he fought to avoid a life sentence. Basham, 46, was found guilty of murdering his ex-wife Samantha Fraser in April. Basham faced the Supreme Court in Melbourne last week for another pre-sentence hearing after his previous legal team dropped him. Basham met Ms Fraser, formerly of Swan Hill, in 2005, and they married in 2007. On July 23, 2018, Basham killed Ms Fraser in her home.
Read the article in the digital edition
• Beverford Tavern Demons and the WDEA Works Saints were the two sides to book their place in the McDonald’s T20 competition grand final. Both sides only lost one game throughout the T20 season. The grand final was played at the Showgrounds last night.
