The Federal Election
There is a lot happening in and around the Village as we move towards a federal election. Both major parties seem to be offering a variety of additional services and programs and assuring us that key services will be affordable in the future (such as energy).
From my perspective we simply need a stable Government that will focus on the long term best needs of the country rather than short term expediency to get elected. Is this possible under our current system of three year terms, maybe not. Is it possible under our adversarial parliament – not certain. We are told that the theatre of question time is not representative of the actual working of parliament, and there may be many issues where the major parties are in agreement for the direction the country should take. Whilst it is not obvious, based on the news reports, I do believe that it is not as bad as presented in the media.
Voting is compulsory and there are a number of avenues to vote:
- At the polling booth across the road at Mt Erin College on the 18th May
- By postal ballot, and application for a postal ballot should have been received by residents over the last week. You need to complete the application for a postal ballot and one will be sent to you.
- By pre-poll early voting stations that will operate from 29th April. A list of these locations will be published shortly on the Australian Electoral Commission web page.
- A polling booth will be available on site on Wednesday 8th May for our Lodge Residents (9.00 – 11.00) and Manor residents (3.00 – 5.00). A polling booth will be available at the Clarke Centre between 12.00 – 2.00 however this should only be used by those residents who have difficulty in using any of the other options.
Voting for a Government is a privilege that many countries do not have and is a hallmark of our democracy.
There were couple of interesting topics discussed at the last Resident Meeting that are worthy of reporting.
Firstly, a question was raised on external people belonging to some of our recreational groups. Our view is that people who are on a waiting list to enter the Village or Rosebud Village residents should be invited to participate in our various groups (Bowls Club, Croquet Club, Craft Group, Snooker Group and other similar groups). The participants will pay the same fees as residents or, for those groups who do not have any fees, a donation will be made. Each of the main groups have considered the issue and seem to be very supportive of this move. Indeed, some groups would not exist if we did not invite external people to participate.
Secondly, the VBRC are interested in exploring options for those residents currently without solar panels on their roof. The initial view is that 3KW systems may be the best option costing around $4,500 before Government rebates which reduce the cost to around $2,500. Actual energy savings will be achieved depending on individual energy use and acknowledging that excess energy is fed back into our common grid to reduce power costs for common areas and help keep service fees low and not into the wider grid so individual credits do not apply (and the VBRC are trying to get a few actual examples). At this stage it is a discussion topic only and the plan is to have a meeting of interested residents in the coming weeks to see if the issue is worth pursuing.
Till next month
Stuart Shaw, General Manager