A THREE percent rate rise has been approved after a tense Kingston Council meeting which saw a councillor file a dissent motion against the mayor. The rate rise was approved alongside Kingston Council’s 2025/2026 budget.
Cr Caroline White had foreshadowed her intent to amend the budget to reduce the planned rate rise. The mayor Georgina Oxley closed debate before Cr White had moved the amendment, prompting Cr White to file a dissent motion against the mayor’s decision. The dissent motion was supported by Crs White, Sarah O’Donnell, and Georgia Erevnidis, but ultimately failed. Oxley returned to the chair and put the budget to a vote – the budget was approved with the support of Crs Oxley, Chris Hill, Tess Law, Tony Athanasopoulos, Kirralee Ashworth-Collett, and Hadi Saab.
The final budget put aside $103.6 million for infrastructure spending. $48.6 million of that money will be spent on the Mordi Aquatic Centre project near Jack Grut Reserve in Mordialloc.
A little more than $20 million will be spent on Kingston’s sporting facilities, and more than $20 million will be spent on roads, drains, and paths. A $2.3 million “cost of living relief” package also featured in the budget. Kingston residents will be offered rates hardship assistance, discounts for business support programs, discounted pet registration, reduced fees on aged care services, free community activities, and discounted leisure centre fees in the 2025/2026 financial year.
The mayor said “these are really challenging economic times, and that is reflected in the cost-of-living relief we’re providing.” “This support package makes it simple and easy for people to access help – whether it’s with rates, aged care, or staying connected through affordable community activities,” Cr Oxley said. “Investing your rates wisely means continuing to deliver the services needed, renewing and maintaining our facilities and key infrastructure, and delivering new projects in a collaborative, considered and cost effective manner, as outlined in this blueprint for the year ahead.
“This is a financially responsible budget that focuses on delivering key community services and renewing and maintaining vital infrastructure to ensure it continues to deliver for the community well into the future – while still looking out for those that need a little more help.”
Cr White criticised the decision to raise rates, telling councillors that “increasing rates is quite simply a choice, and we can say no”. “Our council is not short of places to save money: IBAC-referred grants, blow-out capital works like the mega-debt pool that doesn’t have a business case thanks to our Labor mates that have led us down the garden path, events, woke agendas, rainbow ticks, net zero nonsense, [and] health and wellbeing plans,” she said.
Cr White said that she raised the dissent motion against the mayor because “I haven’t had the chance to put up my amendments.” “I asked you if I am allowed to speak to this motion after I moved my amendments. We had a meeting prior to this council meeting about the amendments I have for this budget. I’m sorry if I don’t know the technicalities,” she told the mayor at last week’s meeting. “I know Cr O’Donnell next to me agrees there wasn’t enough time given. “I think it’s going to look really bad”.
Cr O’Donnell said “I‘m disgusted” at the decision to end debate, telling the mayor there was “far from adequate time to raise an amendment.” “It’s feeling a bit like games being played at the moment,” she said.
Roughly 25 minutes of debate on the budget had occurred before the mayor declared it closed. During that debate, Cr Oxley asked Cr White “would you like to speak to the motion that’s in front of you or would you like to amend it?”. White elected to speak to the motion.
The mayor defended her process – she said “I have given plenty of opportunity for councillors to move amendments”. “I think almost everyone aside from one councillor and myself have spoken to the motion. You foreshadowed you would move the amendments, amendments have not been moved. Should you like to move a dissent in the ruling of the chair you’re more than welcome to do so.”
Cr Hadi Saab defended the mayor, saying “councillors mentioned they wanted to move amendments, at that point in time they could have moved amendments. At the conclusion of their speeches or debate on that particular substantive motion they could have moved an amendment. They could have had the opportunity after anyone had spoken to move an amendment.”
The public meeting was not livestreamed as usual, and was delayed by an hour with technical issues blamed. A recording of the meeting was uploaded online the following day. As the hours passed, three councillors left before the conclusion of the meeting and did not return. Cr Howe left just before 10.30pm, and Crs White and O’Donnell left just after 11pm with one item left on the agenda.
Shortly after the meeting Cr White vented her frustration on social media, posting to Facebook “Question (asking for a friend) do you need a pregnancy test when you get screwed by the Labor party?”
The following day Cr White posted that her planned amendments were for a “10 percent decrease to the events budget, a three percent decrease to FTE budget” and to “cancel footpath trading fees for businesses”. In the budget, FTE is identified as full time equivalent council staff.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 2 July 2025