VICTORIAN councillors and their bureaucrat controllers are slow to read the rising anti-authoritarian sentiment across the West as expressed in the Trump revolution in the US.
Last week a Melbourne council meeting erupted into chaos and police were forced to intervene when hundreds of frustrated ratepayers exploded at City of Casey councillors. More than 500 angry ratepayeres swamped the meeting room, protesting over the latest round a petty regulations designed to pilfer money for council coffers. Welcome to Country was also loudly booed.
A major part of their outrage stemmed from private land permit regulations restricting the storage of multiple unregistered vehicles on private property. It appears that the accumulation of private property in the form of vehicles is seen as some sort of threat by the comrades within Victoria’s bureaucracy.
The Age newspaper, speaking for the state’s Socialist Left establishment, headlined its story “Chaos in Casey: Meeting shut down as councillors sprayed with abuse”. Exactly what did they expect with greedy little council bureaucrat now demanding a non-refundable $150 for a “permit” to allow a property owner to apply to store unregistered vehicles on their own property.
And then there is the $250 so-called “permit fee” for storing three or more unregistered vehicles, or working on your own vehicle. This is simply extraordinary bureaucratic overreach.
Apologists for the council say such regulations have been around for a long time, and only recently burst into headlines when the council impounded some vehicles that were being stored on land without permission.
However the Trahar family, who own the vehicles, told 7News they are the lawful owners of the 5000 sq/m property through a 99-year lease. The council says the Trahars were “not authorised” to store the vehicles on the neighbouring property and that their actual property was not entered by officers.
Regardless of the rights and wrongs of the Trahar case, the real issue is the regulations prohibiting people from working on their own vehicles.
Tensions at the meeting escalated when attendees realised they could not ask the councillors questions if they had not been submitted before the meeting commenced, sparking what media called “a chorus of expletives” and shouts of “boo!” and “bullshit” at the panel of councillors.
Councils, of course, acting under state government Local Government Acts, increasingly see themselves as the effective administrators of your property, imposing all sorts of fees and charges at will to satisfy the alleged needs of some bureaucratic demand.
A petition page set up against the bylaw states “It is vital to recognize the imposition this decision places on homeowners. It contradicts the core principle of private property rights, under which we should have the right to use our land as we see fit without governmental intervention, as long as we aren’t causing harm or nuisance to others.”
Casey resident and Libertarian Party candidate for Victoria, Step;hen Matulec commented on X: “Full house at the Casey council meeting tonight. The anger continues over council overreach on private property rights and car permits.
“People don’t want to be told how many vehicles they can have on their land and what hobbies they can perform. Councils should be fixing roads and collecting rubbish, not intruding and sticking their nose onto private property.”
It’s a message that more and more people are becoming aware of. The Trump phenomenon is not isolated to the US alone, but around the western world where government bureaucracies have become increasingly overbearing and dictatorial.
The 12 councillors elected to Casey municipality last November need to get their heads around this sentiment and act accordingly. The council had been in administration for five years over corruption allegations.