WODONGA mayor Anna Speedie won’t get to pack her bags to fly to Asia after her colleagues voted 3-2 against spending $6430 on an education junket.
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Councillors Tim Quilty, Libby Hall and Kat Bennett opposed funding the mayor’s fare to join a Wodonga education delegation to China and Vietnam next month.
Colleagues Danny Lowe and John Watson argued Cr Speedie should be party to the trip involving La Trobe University and Wodonga’s TAFE and senior secondary college.
Councillor Ron Mildren and Cr Speedie absented themselves from the debate based on conflicts of interest with the former a secondary college councillor.
Cr Lowe questioned why the education groups had not helped the council to cover the mayor’s costs, but nevertheless supported the trip on a business basis.
“This will be an excellent opportunity for the mayor to help restore some faith in these type of trips and to not fly business class, fly economy, and let the people of Wodonga know we are serious when we are using their money for the benefit of the city,” he said.
But Cr Quilty and Cr Hall said the council’s poor record with foreign travel was fundamental to their opposition.
“If as a council we didn’t have the history of overseas travel that we have I might have gritted my teeth and said nothing,” Cr Quilty said.
“If a strong business case was brought forward to support this spending...I might be able to stand up and defend it.”
Cr Hall said government should have covered the cost and “from our prior history we haven’t done it (foreign travel) well”.
Cr Bennett said she had reservations about setting a precedent and fully funding such a journey.
“It’s the education institutions themselves that benefit directly, given this I think it is reasonable to expect these education institutions to contribute financially to having a mayor accompany them on their trip,” she said.
Also on Monday night the council agreed to adopt live streaming of its monthly meetings.
It will begin in April when the council expects to be in its new chamber on the ground floor of the city’s Hovell Street office.
Cr Bennett and Cr Quilty, who had previously supported it but were rolled by their colleagues, were delighted to have Wodonga follow other councils such as Albury.
Cr Quilty though was irked the camera used would not zoom in on councillors.
Cr Mildren said streaming would not increase the council’s transparency but would aid accessibility for those unable to attend the meetings.
Cr Lowe said there was still a liability risk but added he had “belief in my own character that I will perform in a proper manner”.