Minister slams Geelong MP suss on citizens’ jury to shape next council

Liberal MP Andrew Katos lacks “faith” in the ability of Geelong residents to choose the structure of their next council, according to Victoria’s Local Government Minister.
Natalie Hutchins was responding to his attack on the Andrews Government’s Citizens’ Jury as “ridiculous”.
Mr Katos told this week’s Geelong Indy he was concerned the jury would be a front to deliver the government’s preferred council model for Geelong.
“It is disappointing to hear Mr Katos does not have faith in the ability of the Geelong community to decide how their council should look and work,” Ms Hutchins said.
“We want to listen to what the people of Geelong want and the Citizens’ Jury is a great way to do this.
“The Liberal Party supported consulting with the community on the City of Greater Geelong governance model and now they are criticising us for doing exactly that.”
The government announced this week that it had appointed NewDemocracy Foundation to establish the jury with a “representative but random sample” of 100 residents.
The jury would consider the number of councillors and ward structure for Geelong’s next council following the Andrews government’s sacking of its predecessor in April.
The jury would also consider “how” the mayor was elected and whether a deputy was needed, the government said.
The jury announcement follows a Victorian Electoral Commission review that recommended a new ward structure and number of councillors earlier this year.
Mr Katos questioned why the structure needed another review and said the only remaining decision was whether to include a deputy mayor.
He was concerned the jury would be stacked, directed or both to deliver the government’s preferred council.
The government’s announcement also suggested the jury review could remove Geelong’s popular mayoral vote for a return to the “bad old days” of councillors making the decision behind closed doors, he said.
The NewDemocracy Foundation describes itself as “an independent, non-partisan research organisation aiming to identify improvements to our democratic process”.
ABC Radio interviewed foundation founder and chairman Luca Belgiorno-Nettis in 2009, reporting that he wanted NewDemocracy to “work with like-minded people from the political movement GetUp … especially on the issue of climate change”.