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26 MAY, 2026
Celebrating all things Italian The Calabria Club is celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Italian Republic with a fun community day in Bulla. Club president Sam Sposato said it will be a day of celebrations with stalls, food vendors and fun activities, including a spaghetti and chilli eating competition. “We’ve got mass in the morning, and then we’ve got entertainment for the rest of the afternoon,” he said. Other activities planned for the day include live entertainment on the main stage, the Fiat Club Car Show, an animal farm, jumping castles and kids entertainment. Mr Sposato said the celebration will help mark an important day for the community and welcomed everyone to come along to this free event. “You can have a dance, listen to music, it’ll be a nice day,” he said. The community celebration will be held from 10am for mass with activities starting at 12.30pm at The Calabria Club, Bulla, on Sunday 31 May. Details: facebook.com/ calabriaclubbulla
Calabria Club president Sam Sposato. (Damjan Janevski) 553107_01
By-election woes By Laura Michell A second Whittlesea council election has been tarnished by allegations of interference with votes. The Local Government Inspectorate (LGI) has been asked to investigate allegations of interference in the Thomastown ward by-election. On Thursday 21 May, the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) issued an alert to voters in the Thomastown ward, urging them to protect their vote. The statement said the VEC had received information that residents had been
approached by an individual offering to complete and return postal ballots on their behalf. The LGI confi rmed it had been notified by the VEC of reports of voters being approached in their homes by an individual who fi lled out ballot papers and removed the postal ballot packs from the homes. Electoral laws prohibit interference, coercion or improperly completing a ballot on another person’s behalf, the VEC said. The VEC said it had procedures in place to help determine if any irregular voting activity has occurred. “We take all allegations of interference
with elections seriously,” a spokesperson said. “Th is includes processes to detect multiple returns and identify irregular postal vote return rates.” The spokesperson said that at this state, there was no evidence the integrity of the by-election had been compromised. “We understand that these incidents can make people concerned. What this demonstrates, however, is that any attempt to interfere with an election will be detected swiftly and acted on, in accordance with electoral laws,” the spokesperson said. “If any voter believes their vote has been interfered with, the voter should call us to
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request a replacement postal ballot pack on 131 832 and let us know the reason. This information is important as it allows us to identify and investigate potential issues if multiple ballot papers are returned for the same voter.” In May 2025, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) voided the result of the October 2024 council election in Lalor Ward following “attempted and actual interference” with the election, with ballot papers stolen from letter boxes in an area of streets west of Edgars Road. Continued: Page 3.
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