In short:
Local Government Minister Nick Staikos is under fire amid allegations of years of inaction and ignored warnings at Wyndham City Council. Pressure is mounting as questions grow over why intervention did not come sooner.
Wyndham Advertiser
Pressure Mounts on Staikos
Local Government Minister Nick Staikos is facing mounting scrutiny and calls for his replacement over his handling of instability at Wyndham City Council, after years of warnings went unaddressed until the latest leadership crisis.
A municipal monitor is now set to be appointed, with the minister saying the move is aimed at helping “restore stability in the leadership and ensure good governance.”
Mr Staikos says he is “deeply concerned by the ongoing instability in leadership at Wyndham City Council” and that residents deserve a council “entirely focused on them.”
However, the decision comes after repeated public calls dating back to at least 2020 from Wyndham residents, former mayors and a current councillor for a monitor to be installed, raising questions about why action has taken so long.
Pressure escalates in recent weeks following controversy surrounding Mayor Preet Singh, who was revealed to have written a reference in 2024 for a convicted child sex offender prior to being elected to council.
While the situation intensifies scrutiny on council leadership, it does not necessarily reflect the broader governance of the organisation.
Pundits Call For Staikos to be Replaced
Under the current Local Government Act, the minister does not have straightforward powers to remove a sitting mayor, limiting direct intervention options.
Council Watch president Dean Hurlston, a frequent critic of Mr Staikos’ approach to local government oversight — including in municipalities such as Kingston — says the minister has failed to act decisively.
“Sadly Nick Staikos has failed to address the constant dysfunction and toxic behaviours in local government.
“He has also failed to ensure the $15 Billion spent by bloated bureaucracies is spent well.
“It hasn’t gotten better since he was appointed, rather, dramatically worse – Victorians deserve a new minister who can actually fix things and stop playing politics with our rates,” Mr Hurlston says.
Monitor Appointment Impartiality Questioned
Western Metropolitan MP Moira Deeming also questions the effectiveness of the intervention, warning the use of government-appointed monitors may not be impartial.
“Wyndham residents never stood a chance under Labor- they wrote the LG Act to protect virtue signalling and cost shifting, and they made damn sure the only remedy when everything inevitably went to hell, was their own selected Monitors.
“What we need is to boot Labor out and to start over, with simple, clear, enforceable laws so that justice and good governance are unavoidable.”
The appointment of a monitor comes as political pressure continues to build on the Allan Labor Government’s oversight of councils, with critics arguing the intervention is long overdue rather than proactive.
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