FRANKSTON councillors refused to reverse a flip-flop on support for a major container port at Hastings.
An attempt by mayor Cr Brian Cunial to rescind a notice of motion passed by a majority of councillors at an earlier council meeting ran aground last week.
A 6-2 vote went against reversing council’s decision to end its support for a container port at Hastings.
Frankston Council officially backed a port at Hastings until councillors voted to sail away from that policy early this month.
Cr Kris Bolam said he had changed his mind about backing a Hastings port and promises of future jobs were not concrete.
“The workforce we have now won’t be the workforce we have in 30-40 years’ time. You’ll find that many of the labour-intensive jobs that accompany the Port of Hastings proposal will be automated in 20-30 years’ time,” he said. “Machinery and technology will likely replace those jobs, as much as I don’t want to say it, in all likelihood that will be the case.”
Cr Cunial made a last-ditch attempt at a public council meeting last Monday (22 May) to persuade his fellow councillors to continue backing a port in Hastings and implored them to have more briefings about Hastings as the preferred port destination.
Infrastructure Victoria last week recommended that a container port be built at Bay West, in Port Phillip north of Geelong rather than at Hastings.
“I’m not at all confident that all of us are completely 100 per cent aware of all the facts pertinent to such an important decision,” Cr Cunial said.
The mayor said he has been advised the port at Hastings is a “deep water port” that “does occasionally get dredged”.
Cr Quinn McCormack, whose 1 May meeting notice of motion originally floated the idea of council officially no longer supporting a port at Hastings, said at last week’s meeting: “We need employment in the region now – not in 40 years’ time”.
“The old style ports strategy as a cornerstone of economics has really gone out with the industrial revolution,” she said, advocating for “a third way” to avoid “destruction of either of the bays”.
Crs Glenn Aitken, Bolam, McCormack, Sandra Mayer and Steve Toms voted against the rescission motion while Crs Cunial and Colin Hampton wanted to revisit the decision.
