Elections, Europe, Emergencies and Easter
There is so much uncertainty in the world right now, I have pondered for several days trying to choose a topic for this month’s cover that would still be relevant by the time it goes to print next week and decided that I can be sure that all 4 of these topics will dominate the news in April.
At the time of writing this, I am expecting that a Federal Election will be called in April for some time in May. The Election must be held before 21st May 2022, and with the minimum time between when the writ is issued and polling day being 33 days, we can be certain that sometime between now and Easter Monday (April 18th), the writ will be issued and the Federal Election date made known. The Federal Budget is scheduled for March 29th (earlier than usual this year) so this will also play into the election date selection.
As with any election, we are aware that we have Residents with many different political views and affiliations living in the Village. As always, we do not allow door to door campaigning on our private property and unaddressed letterbox drops are also not permitted. This remains consistent with our blanket advice to all Residents that if someone knocks on your door to sell you a product or a service you can be certain that they are doing this without Village Baxter permission. At election time, we place Campaign materials supplied by candidates in the same location as letterboxes so that Residents can collect the ones that interest them. At every election we receive many complaints about unsolicited campaign materials being placed in private letterboxes – if you receive election material that is not addressed to you in your letterbox, you can be certain that this was not placed into your letterbox by Village Staff. If you object to any material that was placed in your letterbox, please take it up with the individual candidate concerned.
The situation in Eastern Europe and the Flood and Covid Emergencies closer to home here in Australia are impacting prices and financial markets across the board. The prices of food, petrol, insurance and other necessities are all being pushed higher because of the issues both here and overseas and these will impact all of our budgets over the coming year. The 2022 – 2023 service fee budget will be discussed with your elected Village Baxter Residents’ Committee at the April meeting. Whilst we hear a lot about this ‘post-Covid’ world, we continue to see infections in the thousands every day and hundreds of Victorians in hospital with Covid and this is impacting emergency room and surgery waiting times for all people not just those with Covid. Please continue to be aware of any signs and symptoms you have and get your booster vaccine if you haven’t already done so.
On a much brighter note, we do get to enjoy Easter in April – our biggest and most anticipated long weekend in Australia and very special time for people of Christian Faith. This year it will be extra special with Covid restrictions lifted and Church and family gatherings once again largely back to what we knew as ‘normal’. This April is both a time of renewal as we celebrate Easter and reflection as we acknowledge ANZAC day the following week.
On behalf of our Board, Management and Staff, I would like to say thank-you for all that you have done to keep our staff safe at work and wish you and your families every blessing and happiness this Easter.
Kim Jackson, CEO