Wednesday, 19 February 2025

Local government

David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:11): (1425) This adjournment item is for the Minister for Local Government in the other place. Not even I anticipated how broad and fierce the backlash would be when I recorded a video with a resident of Hampton Park last week detailing the actions of Casey City Council. The resident Mike had representatives from the council come onto his property and seize three vehicles without warning or a warrant or providing any paperwork on the day. This was all done under local laws created by the previous administrators, who would not even shift times for the council meetings to a time when residents could reasonably attend, so perhaps it is little wonder that they have pushed through rules that require registration for things like working on your own car.

But something happened when I highlighted Mike’s issue. The phone in my office started ringing hot, and the emails started flooding in. There were stories of unsubstantiated allegations of a dog attack, leading to the dog being surrendered to an authorised officer and then euthanised in just three days. There have also been other stories about cars that were legally parked on the street being towed away because of mistakes by other local councils and more, and I am starting to wonder just how common this sort of thing really is.

Property rights are meant to be protected under the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, but perhaps these protections are insufficient and need to be reassessed. There is clearly a large amount of community concern about the powers of local government authorised officers and how they treat private property. My request for the Minister for Local Government is to initiate an inquiry into Victorian local government laws and their enforcement.