Poll savings

IN his letter on June 27, Tony Geeves asserts Melbourne is going from “32 councils down to one super council”. Mr Geeves should check his facts, as no amalgamation of this sort is currently proposed by the Victorian Government, it is merely a proposition being floated by the Herald Sun as part of its Future Melbourne story series. This idea is by no means roundly supported, with commentators noting that there are extensive self-reform and efficiency programs already underway and delivering cost savings, efficiency and performance improvements to councils. The global trend is for greater local engagement with local communities — not more centralised bureaucracy and decisionmaking, and the value of local government lies in its close links to local communities. With 76 per cent of Victoria’s population living in Melbourne, a greater Melbourne

Money wasted

I WONDER if the Glenorchy City councillors that are taking their little ego trip drive down Grove Rd and think all that money we are wasting would have been better spent taking out the useless nature strips and putting parking bays in. I just hope it all goes wrong for them and they have to cover their own costs. THE issue of the definition of marriage is of fundamental importance to any civilised society, and it is certainly not unreasonable to argue that it deserves the individual input of every elector.

What is really in dispute is the cost and cumbersome nature of a dedicated plebiscite and the obvious but unanswered question is why is this poll not simply tacked on to the machinery of the next federal election.