Moorabool Shire Council Local athletes backed Non-voters pay up

By Lachlan Ellis

The next Ordinary Mee�ng of Council will be held on Wednesday 7 July 2021 in the Council Chambers, 15 Stead St Ballan, star�ng at 6.00 pm

Cases in the Bacchus Marsh Magistrates Court more often include driving offences and thefts, but in the space of about ten minutes at last Friday’s session, over $1000 of fines were issued for failure to vote.

For details on a�endance or to the view the agenda, go to www.moorabool.vic.gov.au

Ante Andrijanic, Memos Aydin, Mitchell Cording, Darryl Kimlin, Amie-Lee Mcauliffe, and Adam Williams all had their cases heard by Magistrate Simon Zebrowski, with Mr Flannery prosecuting for the Australian Electoral Commission.

All six cases were heard ex parte (without the defendants), as all six non-voters had been notified by the AEC that the matters were going to court but didn’t attend.

While the fine for failing to vote is just $20, because the matters had to come to court after two penalty notices, the fine ramped up to the maximum of $222 for each of the accused.

A further cost of $85.75 for filing costs also applied to each accused.

Each accused also had a history from non-voting, from Mr Andrijanic failing to vote in the 2019 and 2022 federal elections, to Mr Cording failing to vote in 2007, 2016, 2019, and 2022.

Magistrate Zebrowski found all six charges proven and ordered the accused to each pay $222 plus $85.75, recording convictions for all six.

The maximum penalty is only applied in cases such as this after an ‘Apparent failure to vote notice’ is issued, allowing an elector to explain why it looks like they didn’t vote, then an ‘infringement notice’ if the previous notice wasn’t responded to or the explanation was not accepted, and you then fail to pay the $20 fine.

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Rising sports stars and teams in Bacchus Marsh have received a boost from the State Government, with travel grants provided this month.

Member for Eureka Michaela Settle visited the Bacchus Marsh BMX Club on Saturday 24 June, announcing that the club would receive $1,500 under the Government’s ‘Athlete Pathway Travel Grant Program’, which it will use to fund travel expenses for upcoming BMX events.

Darley’s Electrik DrillDance Inc has also been provided with a grant under the program, with $2,000 to support their travel to the Australian Drilldance Championships.

Ms Settle wished the sporting groups the best of luck in their upcoming competitions. “We’re supporting our local sporting clubs and talented athletes as they pursue their dreams,” she said.

“Congratulations to our sporting stars in Bacchus Marsh and Buninyong who have been awarded these grants, and best of luck for your upcoming events.”

Since 2015, more than 1,700 grants have been awarded totalling more than $3 million, to help teams and individual athletes reach their goals.

For further information on the Athlete Pathway Grant Program, visit sport.vic.gov.au.