Annual Report 2008-2009 Summary - City of Greater Geelong

Built in 1855, and restored in 1917, the Geelong Town Hall remains one
of the oldest centres of local government having been in use since 1856
and is the centre of administration for the City of Greater Geelong.
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Theme 1: Democracy
Objective:
To provide strategic leadership and foster participation to achieve
long-term vision and aspirations of our community.
Highlights:
The Victorian Local Government elections
were held in November 2008 and resulted in
eight councillors being returned and four new
councillors being elected to represent the City
over the next four years. With an enrolment of
over 160,000 voters, Geelong was the largest
Council election in Victoria in 2008.
Participation by voters of 75.9 per cent was
marginally lower than the previous two Geelong
elections with 79.3 per cent participating in
both the 2001 and 2004 elections. Since 1998
Geelong elections have been conducted by
post and the participation rate has consistently
been amongst the highest in Victoria.
On Sunday 7 December, the Australian
Government held its ninth Community Cabinet
for 2008, the first in Victoria, at Corio Bay
Senior College in Geelong. 357 community
members attended a public question-andanswer
forum with the Prime Minister Kevin
Rudd and Cabinet ministers. Following the
public forum ministers met with individuals and
community groups, providing an opportunity to
discuss matters of personal and local concern.
The Prime Minister also attended a community
barbecue held at Corio Sporting Club, along
with Victorian Premier John Brumby, Federal
Member for Corio Richard Marles, and state
MPs Lisa Neville, John Eren and Ian Trezise.
Achievements:
> $237,584 was distributed to
146 community groups through
the Councillor Community
Grants Program.
> The 2007-2008 City of Greater Geelong
Annual Report received a Gold
Award at the prestigious Australasian
Reporting Awards.
> Council’s local newsletter, Community
Update was relaunched in an
expanded tabloid size format and will
be delivered to all residents of the
municipality bi-monthly.
Future Directions:
> Focus on community advocacy
and engagement.
Annual Report 2008-2009 | City of Greater Geelong 33