By VICTORIA STONE-MEADOWS
MOUNT Evelyn community members are feeling disenfranchised by the Victorian Electoral Commission after the town was omitted from official paperwork.
Mount Evelyn township was not shown in the Guide for Submissions for the Yarra Ranges Shire Council electoral representation review.
The VEC is conducting a structural review of Yarra Ranges Shire and, at an information session held in Lilydale on Monday 10 August, provided attendees with a guide on how the review will work.
The guide, however, did not have Mount Evelyn as a listed town of interest and the town was left out of the list of high-population towns, despite it being the third most populace place in the shire.
“It just shows how sloppy the planning for these guides can be,” said immediate past president of the Mount Evelyn Environment Protection and Progress Association (MEEPPA), Francis Smith.
“A number of Mount Evelyn people who have contacted us about the process are of the belief that because there was no mention of Mount Evelyn that this doesn’t concern them.”
Spokesperson for the VEC Lawson Fletcher said the mistake was corrected as soon as possible, but added that even though Mount Evelyn wasn’t listed in the guide, they would still be part of the review.
“This was an unfortunate omission that was corrected online within 24 hours,” he said.
“However, this table is provided as background information for submitters.
The VEC considers population and enrolment statistics for all localities within the municipality when conducting the review.”
While the guide book has been updated online and revised versions were provided to attendees of following information sessions, Mr Smith believes it’s too little too late.
“We’re talking about almost 10,000 people of whom 7193 are voters,” he said.
“Potentially, what they (the VEC) have done is disenfranchise 7000 voters, and I see that as being extremely serious.”
“It’s just sheer incompetence,” he said.
With VEC leaving a whole town out of their paperwork, Mr Smith said it was difficult for himself and others to trust the system would treat them fairly.
“It’s very difficult for me after my experience to maintain any faith in a system that disenfranchises us,” he said.
Yarra Ranges Mayor and Billanook ward councillor Maria McCarthy said the mistake in the paperwork was not such a big deal.
“It’s fine – it’s not as if Mount Evelyn has been left off the map totally,” she said.
“The presentation was very thorough and the electoral staff were apologetic and said it could have been an oversight.”
Mr Smith is calling for the review process to be restarted and the submission deadlines extended to make up for time lost.
“I would highly recommend that the timeline be extended by at least 21 days or more given the unsatisfactory mistakes to date,” he said.
“That would at least allow township groups, chambers of commerce and so on to meet in a reasonable time to discuss their preferences and actually be given time to prepare worthwhile submissions.”
