Thursday, 3 October, 2024
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Slurs shock candidates
Crime still going up
Names for new schools in Clyde North
Welcome home party for Dayna
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Colour Judith lucky The Berwick Orchids Club had guests and participants pour through their doors on Sunday 29 September, where Judith Mehegan won the Novice Phalaenopsis Orchid award for her contribution. Mehegan was one of many awardees during the event, where a wide variety of orchids also meant a wide variety of awards to be won. For more on the story, TURN TO PAGE 2
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Fiscal focus call By Ethan Benedicto Revitalising is at the forefront of every candidate’s vision for the ward of Akoonah, from Berwick Village to the numerous parks and reserves; however, a prioritisation of what this entails is a varied discussion, with suggestions for better governance to bringing things back down to basics. Kushal Shah, through his experience with his role in professional services and providing advice and solutions to the private sector, has emphasised the need for a strong focus on proper financial governance and management, seeing it
as the root of all issues that plague the city from residents’ cynicism to the lack of support on small businesses. “The root cause of all the problems that we have is inefficient financial management, these are all the symptoms because whoever you ask, everybody has their own views on what problems we have,” Shah said. “Once you have good financial management, we have more resources at our disposal, we have better decision-making, and whether we invest that extra cash or into extra resources in commu-
nity safety, or revitalising Berwick Village, we will have that flexibility.” Shah added that aspects like the increasing crime rate, red tape and other similar issues in the ward have their foundations with improper financial investments, which if addressed, then allows the residents from throughout Casey to make informed decisions on their issues and what aspects they would like to prioritise. Using crime as an example, Shah said that if the ward has funding available due to better finances, “we can use that funding to fund CCTV cameras in the area,”
“For example, we could have some form of control centre in the council to monitor certain regions. “We could also be using that funding for neighbourhood watches which is currently lacking,” he said. Scott Dowling is of the same mind, agreeing that proper fiscal responsibility is a must for every councillor and that it is only when this is met that the necessary actions can be decided for the ward. CONTINUED PAGE 12
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