The official parliamentary debate to reinstate the previous name of Berwick Springs Lake and the lack of consultation has been postponed to October, following a reschedule that was meant to go ahead on Wednesday, 10 September.
South-Eastern Metropolitan MP, Ann-Marie Hermans, was meant to lead the scheduled debate by 5:45pm, with more than 60 local Berwick Springs residents, including Michael Ball, and councillors Shane Taylor, Michelle Crowther and Melinda Ambros, ready to attend.
However, both the Opposition and the sitting Government decided to move the Fisheries Motion forward, a separate debate around Western Victoria Legislative MP, Bev MacArthur’s position on the Victorian Fisheries Authority, instead.
Ball said that he was “really disappointed on behalf of our community”.
“We have an issue here that has had no consultation to begin with, and when we had the opportunity to have it heard in Parliament, it’s being deferred to a later date.
“The question now is, is it still going to be debated? Hopefully, it’s not an indication that it’s not going to happen.
”Our community wanted consultation; they deserve it,” he said.
Currently, Ball said that he and the other organisers are in the process of informing the 60-plus attendees of the date change, a feat he said was commendable considering the Berwick Springs Estate’s distance, and the meant-to-be mid-week attendance.
Ann-Marie Hermans, speaking to Star News, initially said that the e-petition would remain open for residents to sign; however, due to a technicality, it is possible that the Victorian Parliament’s table office will not allow the open date to be extended.
At the time of writing, discussions are currently being held, with Hermans requesting the Parliament office to confirm where in the regulations it prevents the petition from being reopened and extended.
Hermans previously intended that while a date has yet to be set for the reschedule, an open e-petition would give residents the chance to solidify their voices on the issue in the meantime.
“We would certainly welcome more voices and as many people as possible, to protest the fact that the government hasn’t been consulting the local people when it comes to naming areas that they live in,” Hermans said.
“This is a prominent issue in Berwick Springs, and the lack of consultation is the reason why there’s so much anger and hurt in the community.”
Ball, however, was expecting the conversation to happen much, much sooner, asking, “are our politicians too afraid to discuss the issue?”
“It’s an issue about consultation, about local communities, why has it been deferred?
“I was told that the Fisheries motion has been put up tomorrow, but that was also meant to be heard on a different date; so why was the change made?
“It’s also an inconvenience for the Fisheries [people] because they were planning to have more time to go through their process, so the rug’s been pulled from underneath them as well,” he said.
Hermans also acknowledged the suddenness of the announcement, as well as the 60-plus residents, many of whom she said may have taken time off work and were eager to attend the debate.
“I’m very much aware that it’s really difficult and inconvenient, and I never want that to happen to our people,” she said.
“But unfortunately, it’s what’s been decided, and we need to make that work for us; and with the petition being open, it’s good, and it means if we get another 10,000 signatures on the e-petition, it will also qualify for another debate.
“So the pro here is that if the government, by then, hasn’t fixed the situation in a way that works for the people, then we still have a second chance at getting that message through.”
