A STAGGERING $62 million was lost by punters on pokies in Frankston over 12 months according to figures released last month by Victoria’s gambling regulator. Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation data shows losses reached $62,408,098 for the 2016-17 financial year to the end of June. The total was lost on 509 electronic gaming machines at nine venues throughout the municipality. Alliance for Gambling Reform director Tim Costello said pokies losses of $2.61 billion across the state showed it is time for politicians to step up and stem the flow of money being “drained” from communities. “This time last…
Author: Neil Walker
A MAJORITY of staff at Frankston Council voted down a pay offer last week amid an ongoing stand-off between employees and council management over a new enterprise bargaining agreement. A vote held last Monday (14 August) saw 386 council employees vote against a proposed 1.4 per cent pay rise and 275 vote to accept the pay deal. It is the second time workers have rejected the proposed new EBA. Australian Services Union branch executive president Michelle Jackson praised the solidarity of council staff who “are holding firm and refusing to be short changed” by a pay increase lower than the…
A serving Victoria Police officer will face off against a former firefighter in what is likely to be a tight race to win the marginal seat of Frankston at next year’s state election. Frankston police station commander Senior Sergeant Michael Lamb won Liberal Party preselection on Saturday 5 August to try to unseat incumbent Labor MP Paul Edbrooke next November. Mr Edbrooke, a Mt Eliza resident, was a Country Fire Authority firefighter for 13 years before his election as a state MP in 2014. Senior Sergeant Lamb saw off a challenge from Liberal hopefuls Darrel Taylor, a former Frankston councillor…
A KINGSTON councillor has been chosen to stand as a candidate for the Liberal Party in Mordialloc at next year’s state election. Cr Geoff Gledhill, who was mayor in 2015, was officially preselected last Wednesday (9 August) over fellow Liberal challenger Rob Beaton by the party to face off against Mordialloc Labor MP Tim Richardson next November. Labor won the seat of Mordialloc from the Liberals at the 2014 state election when Premier Daniel Andrews won government by ousting the one-term former Coalition government at the polls. Mr Richardson’s margin is a slim 2.1 per cent in one of four…
THREE businesses will be relocated as part of the plan to elevate rail and build a promenade in Carrum to separate road from rail at level crossings. Three buildings will be demolished and two vacant blocks of land acquired off the Nepean Highway by the state government so the $50 million project can proceed next year. Beach Lane, a creative and artistic space for start-ups at 642 Nepean Highway, will have its century old building torn down alongside neighbouring businesses Face The Art, a cosmetic tattoo and eyeliner business, and Addie’s Hobbies, a model toys business. Beach Lane founder Georges…