The Municipal Association of Victoria wants you to believe it’s delivering results with its new “State Council Resolution Dashboard.” But dig deeper and the truth is brutal. Behind that slick interface sits a 146-page document of motions, advocacy requests, and recycled demands to the State Government - everything from housing, roads, climate, gambling, waste, policing, even bus shelters. Page after page reads the same: “Call on the State Government…” “Advocate for funding…” “Write to the...

Council Watch has gone line-by-line through the Draft Budget… not the glossy summary, but the actual numbers. And what we found should make every ratepayer stop and think. They are spending MORE on computers and IT than they are on roads. Yes. Seriously. FIRST – THE OPERATING MONEY PIT Before a single road is fixed or project delivered, this is where your money disappears: • Materials and services: $252.720M • Employee costs: $234.131M • Depreciation: $78.534M That’s HALF A BILLION DOLLARS...

Melbourne’s push to flood established suburbs with high-rise apartments is running headlong into a problem no planning map can wish away: the numbers are not stacking up. Across 60 designated activity hubs, zoning changes now permit towers up to 20 storeys and beyond near major transport investments. On paper, the housing yield is immense. Capacity runs into the hundreds of thousands of dwellings. In reality, only a fraction of those homes are commercially viable under current conditions....