IF more than 7000 Wodonga voters signed a petition an investigation into their city council could occur under a law being proposed by the Victorian government..
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A new Local Government Bill flags the formation of a Commission of Inquiry if at least 25 per cent of voters in a council area sign a petition.
The petition is not subject to any particular grounds, but it has to be accompanied by a 200-word statement explaining the reasons for the action.
"We have sent a petition with 1200 signatures and that was ignored, if we could get 7450 people to sign a petition any government would have to listen," association president Ian Deegan said.
"But I doubt if we would get it because of apathy in the community.
"Take for instance the public (council) budget meeting that was held in The Cube a couple of weeks ago, there was 10 councillors and staft and 12 residents, so it's not a real big turnout.
"That's the apathy."
A Commission of Inquiry could advise that a councillor be disqualified due to failing to provide good governance.
Former Wodonga councillor and now Liberal Democrat Victorian Upper House MP Tim Quilty supports community-initiated petitions on the basis of fostering "more direct democracy".
However, he is not enamoured of the bill as a whole and plans to vote against it.
Mr Quilty's opposition is centred on a push for single-member wards in councils, a step that would see seven ridings in Wodonga.
"I think it's a retrograde step for democracy in local government," Mr Quilty said.
He believes it would bolster the role of political parties in councils.
Mr Quilty said he would like the bill to be amended to include a ban on councils being able to use commercial-in-confidence as a reason to hide information from ratepayers.