PARTY, PARTY & SOCIAL MEDIA CENSORSHIP
HOW many Christmas staff parties can a council host in one month? At Gingin, three ratepayer funded shindigs in nine days including topless night at a local watering hole.
Shire financial records show the council spent a total of $2575 on three Christmas parties including on December 16 when as revealed by StreetWise the supposed ‘end-of-year’ celebration was held on skimpies night at Gingin Hotel (https://www.streetwisemedia.com.au/shire-celebrates-2025…/).
The day before the ‘reflective’ event attended by staff and councillors, the first party of the month was held at Gingin golf club at a cost of $1172. The next day, elected members were invited to the Gingin Hotel and cost $831. The following week on December 22, a third Christmas party was held with entertainment by country singer Jane Germain. It cost $572.
StreetWise contacted the shire and councillors regarding the Gingin Hotel event. No comment. Additional questions about the other two parties listed in its financials were sent to the shire today. In particular, were they separate parties for staff and councillors and why were some councillors not invited to the December 15 and 22 events?
On April 5, Cr Balcombe responded to our story to share ‘some context’ about the December 16 event: “Fifteen councillors, senior staff and partners had an end-of-year meal at our local pub/restaurant, the only venue open in town on a Tuesday. We sat in the restaurant area, and everyone conducted themselves appropriately. While the night coincided with a themed event at the venue, this didn’t affect the group or the purpose of the dinner.”
Gingin Hotel also responded: “At no point during our 12 years of ownership has the Gingin Hotel employed topless bar staff. This would be in breach of licensing laws, and we strictly adhere to the regulations. Our staff are dressed in compliance with legal requirements and you will honestly see more skin at the beach.”
Crs Lincoln Stewart and David Wilkie who were at the event and left soon after realising it was topless night also responded.
“All councillors were invited to this event,” Cr Stewart posted on April 5. “There was no mention of it being at a skimpy bar on the invite. I chose to pay for my own drink because I did not believe it appropriate for ratepayers to foot the bill at such an event.”
He said the bar maid was, “topless wearing nothing on her top half”, and left with Cr Wilkie after less than an hour being social with fellow elected members.
Cr Weeks lives in Lancelin and did not attend. He said he was totally unaware of the ‘tits out Tuesday’ night: “We were not informed prior so there was no reason or opportunity to ‘bring it up at a meeting prior’.”
Organised conspiracy?
“All sites I have shared your story with have blocked me,” Gingin resident Megan Kolbe told StreetWise. “One shared it then removed it. This is an organised conspiracy.”
Ms Kolbe said many of the people criticising StreetWise posts were the same people who have criticised her over the past six months on a variety of issues.
“This is normal in the shire of Gingin where the purple circle is in control. This is important information, yet all we have is a bunch of newsletters and social media sites run by the same people who have lived in the shire for years. They control every page and some control multiple sites.”
Ms Kolbe said it was unacceptable for ratepayers to pay for alcohol and dinner when most people were doing it tough: “There have been seven council meetings this year and about half had alcohol and dinner provided by ratepayers.”
One of Megan’s critics is Vanessa Fewster who has reported a couple of offensive posts StreetWise has removed pursuant to etiquette rules at www.streetwisemedia.com.au.
“Thank u very much, I appreciate your actions as administration. Just so you are informed, the screen shots that I have of that entire thread, will be reported to police tomorrow morning. The allegations made publicly are false! There will be criminal charges laid due to the allegations made on your page.”
Ms Fewster also told StreetWise she had contacted police about posts she regarded as offensive: “I have just been with the police and gone through all the screen shots taken from your most recent article you have shared in regards to the shire of Gingin.
“They are quite concerned about a number of comments that have been made through the thread, they used words like harassment, bullying and defamation and have taken this on board and will be investigating.
“I’m all for news and journalism however, it is sad to see some media happy to print stories based on the words of one or two people who live in our shire and who appear to have their own personal agenda as a priority and will stoop to low levels to achieve them, with no concern of how their lies or manipulation can impact local people or businesses.”
StreetWise has contacted Gingin police.
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