Joanne Eastman – EGSC

Councillors should be representatives of their communities. They should be working for their communities, not against them, or for particular agendas or stakeholder groups .

I stand for openness, transparency, good governance, financial accountability, timely and genuine community engagement, and equitable service delivery across all of East Gippsland.

Postal address: PO Box 1002 Bairnsdale

Email: voteforjoanneeastman@outlook.com or cr.eastman@egipps.vic.gov.au

Phone: 0494 130 879 (Campaign) or 0428 814 390 (Council)

One Year On – thoughts on the first twelve months
What’s working for your community?

I’m Joanne Eastman. I’m a long time resident of East Gippsland and have seen many changes over the years – including the increasing centralisation of decision-making and the loss of services for many of our smaller towns and communities since the Shires were amalgamated 1990s.

I have been a very interested observer of, and active participant in, many Council meetings over the past 8 years. I am acutely aware of the importance of good processes and sensible decision-making in ensuring our residents have the amenities and services they want, and are able to enjoy life as best they can – whatever their circumstances.

I am, like others, concerned about the ever increasing costs of rates and charges. We seem to be funding a lot of big-ticket, ‘photo opportunity’, projects while services like road maintenance and libraries are being reduced.

I am concerned about the implications of constant budget overruns that see projects costing a lot more than planned. The overruns also result in other services being reduced or important projects and works being postponed or abandoned.

I know we can do better with proper project management. This includes thorough and credible business cases, with realistic economic projections, and evaluation and reporting that will lead to efficiencies and make our rates and grants go further. We need councillors who know how, and are willing to, tackle these issues.

I am truly independent and non-aligned and am funding my campaign myself. This is to ensure I am not beholden to any particular group or ideology and can always act in the best interests of the residents, and for the prosperity, of East Gippsland as a whole.

The image below shows some of the things I will be working towards if elected. Keep scrolling down to see how the website is structured. There are several ways for you to let me know what’s working well for you with Council and what you think could and should be done better. Any ideas for improvement are truly welcome.

There are four sections to the website.

  • Information about me and why I’m running for Council
  • A map of East Gippsland for you to add comments, concerns and ideas
  • A section for you to join or start discussions about different aspects of Council work. You’ll find individual topics relating to the place you live, the services Council delivers and different aspects of how service functions that influence how well it delivers those services, how equitable that delivery is.
  • Some examples of consultations I’ve contributed to and emails I’ve sent to Council about issues I’ve been concerned about.

I really want to hear from you so please get in touch about your concerns and your ideas for how Council can do better.

  • A bit about me

    I’ve lived in East Gippsland for more than 40 years and raised my four children here.

    I taught accounting, legal and business studies for several years at Bairnsdale Secondary College, before running successful Indigenous training and employment programs in the Mallee and Far South West Victoria.

    I moved back to East Gippsland in 2013 to work in community engagement around forest and fire management.

    I’m also an accredited life and executive coach with the International Coach Federation and an accredited Everything DiSC facilitator through Integro Learning Company.

    I’ve played a lot of sport over the years – and was instrumental in setting up junior volleyball teams at Bairnsdale Secondary College. It’s so good to see so many of my past students still playing the game.

    Next to my family, I love gardening, reading, live music, theatre and travel and take a lot of interest in politics.

    My favourite charity is Medicins Sans Frontier.

    I’ve recently been appointed to the committee of the Victorian Ratepayers and Residents Association. VRRA’s concerns include the consequences of Councils approving residential developments in inappropriate areas (such as floodplains) and the implications of Planning Scheme Amendments VC242 and VC261 which are taking away the rights of people to appeal against potentially very poor and unilateral decisions made by Invest Victoria. The Association is also very concerned about changes to the RESCODE that have taken away your right to appeal to VCAT against developments that cost more than $15 million but that will destroy the neighbourhood character or overlook or overshadow your house. (Norton Rose Fulbright – Major Planning Reforms announced by the Victorian Government)

On 20 May 23 I spoke on the Rural Land Use and Housing Strategies, confirmation bias in decisions, inadequate consultation and negative impacts on towns and settlements across East Gippsland.

  • Why I’m standing for Council

    I’ve taken a great interest in Council over the past 10 years and become increasingly alarmed about the extent to which it seems to be distancing itself from the broader community as it focuses on a very limited geographic area and a small number of influential ‘stakeholders’ at the expense of the rest of East Gippsland.

    It seems that apart from a couple of Councillors, there appears to be little or no understanding of, or interest in, the importance of farmers and rural and remote communities to East Gippsland or of the need to look beyond tourism for our economic well-being.

    I am very worried about the impacts of Council’s failure to engage early with residents and the resulting poor decisions and waste of money that comes from failure to acknowledge and respect local knowledge. The debacle around the location of the Cann River Waste Transfer Station where the Cann River community had to take Council to VCAT to get a sensible decision is one such example. (See from around 1:13 on the 11/10/22 Council meeting video, an ABC news item, and Council commitment to engage following a VCAT hearing.

    I am deeply concerned about the constantly increasing rates, the failure to do credible cost/benefit analyses on projects, the consequent failures in budgeting and what appears to be a complete absence of proper and transparent evaluations. Over-runs in big project budgets leads to reductions in services and/or delays or abandonment of other works.

    On 27 July 2023 I spoke on the need to reconsider the Rural Land Use Strategy, to look forward to the future, to consider the diversity of people and the opportunities that have opened up for alternative businesses in remote areas post covid, the need for open and honest community consultation and the need for Councillors to be fully informed about the background and implications of decisions they are facing. I also spoke on the need to farm smarter in the face of climate change.

  • My main concerns

    Ongoing failures to properly plan and budget for and manage and evaluate capital projects – and the inevitable budget overruns that end up with Council ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’. (e.g. the Omeo Mountain Bike Trail that is going to cost nearly three times the original amount claimed).

    Proper budgeting and management to help slow down, avoid or reverse the relentless increase in rates and charges. Did you know that farm rates have increased by more than 30% since 2020. Meanwhile Council has put on more than 100 extra full time equivalent staff over that time yet still had to find an extra $6 million to pay consultants in the 2023-24 financial year.

    Taking the time to properly engage with the community. That means taking the time to find out what the various communities really need, listening properly, incorporating true local knowledge into decisions and no longer imposing cookie-cutter programs designed for and by urban planners on rural communities.

    Recognising and celebrating the contribution of our more rural and remote settlements to the character and uniqueness of East Gippsland. A planning scheme that supports them to grow and thrive instead of stifling any attempts to do so.

    Listen to people – avoid the constant, and wasteful backflips and unnecessary spending as has happened with the need to reinstate carparks in Nicholson Street Bairnsdale. Traders have the right to be furious that their original petition to retain parking spaces was ignored and that so much money was wasted removing spaces that now have to be reinstated.

    Addressing the pattern of poor planning, implementation and reporting in major projects could have significant and positive outcomes for our budgets.

    Financial support for the Chambers of Commerce and Business Associations to encourage innovative and creative ideas and events to build a vibrant and sustainable economy.

    We need fresh faces and fresh ideas at the table. Broaden the diversity of people and groups the Council listens to. Ensure ‘representative’ groups (e.g. Agriculture and Economic Strategic Advisory Committees) are accessible to the people they are supposed to represent.

    The recent haste to push through ill-conceived changes to the Planning Scheme that negatively affect all rural and remote residents and farming families.

  • I want to know what you care about.

    Click on the picture below to go to a map of East Gippsland. You can add comments about your concerns on the map, or add to the conversation where others have commented.

Let me know what you expect from Council and your representatives.

To add a comment:

    • Click on +Add Comment (in top right corner of the page)
    • Click on the part of the map you want
    • Add your comment and press Enter

To start or join a discussion;

  • Click on an existing comment on the map
  • Add your thoughts/opinion (be constructive)
  • Press enter

  • If you’re not comfortable using the map you can send me a message on this site, email me at voteforjoanneeastman@outlook.com or send me a message on 0494 130 879 and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

There are many fantastic things that Council has done too.

Let me know what you think is worth celebrating.

Straight up I’m thinking of the brilliant job staff at Omeo, Buchan and other affected places did in supporting their communities over Black Summer.

Let me know what matters to you.

Let me know your ideas, comments and concerns as they relate to Shire matters. Just go to https://joanneeastman.discourse.group to see a list of topics you can comment on. Let me know if you want to start any other discussions.

Let me know what matters to you. What’s working well, and what needs improving.

What do you want to see from your Councillors? How can they help your community get the services it needs.

You can jump on any of the forums. You’ll find them based on your District and Council services. There’s also the opportunity to comment on some of the bigger strategic issues such as building the economy, managing bushfire risk, what what can be done to mitigate climate change, how the Council should be advocating for you with the State and Federal Government. You can join a discussion or start a new one.

Please keep in mind the things Council is directly responsible for and which ones they can only advocate for on behalf of the community.

Tell me about your locality. What should Councillors know about where you live and what you care about?

Bairnsdale and District

Errinundra to Snowy Sub District

Paynesville and District

Omeo and District

Lindenow and District

Twin Rivers District

Orbost and District

Mallacoota and District

Bruthen and District

Lakes Entrance and District

Cann Valley

Metung and District

Buchan and District

Click on the pictures to give feedback on how you feel about the services Council provides to your community. Let me know what suggestions you have for improvement.

Delivery of services

Waste management

Library services

Animal management

Delivery of services

Local Roads and Bridges

Planning and Building Permits

Recreation Facilities

Delivery of services

Footpaths and cycle tracks

Parking in your town (if applicable)

Community facilities – halls, etc.

Emergency Management

Processes and procedures

Please provide a comment on different aspects of the work of Councillors – either in Council meetings or in their ability to meet with local residents. Themes are based on things mentioned by others over the past two terms. They may or may not seem relevant to you.

Councillors do work hard. How can they be more effective?

Rates, budgets and financial management

Governance and transparency in decision making

Processes and procedures

Adequacy of community consultation and willingness to listen to feedback.

Overreliance on ‘confidentiality’ and secrecy of decision-making.

Responsiveness to complaints and concerns

Processes and procedures

What’s worth celebrating

Other causes of concern

Advocacy to State and Federal Governments

Below are some of the issues I’ve contacted Council about – they range from opposing changes to Governance rules that were intended to deny or severely restrict community participation, unfair and inequitable budgets (with unsupportable increases to rates), and short-sighted proposals to effectively give away community reserves to developers who claim they’re going to build social housing.

18/8/2022

On the rushed attempt to push through new governance rules aimed at reducing community participation.

1/6/2022

Feedback on draft budget.

2022-23 – key budget figuresDownload
1 June 2022 Email to Councillors feedback on the 22-23 BudgetDownload

29/7/2024

The short-sightedness of a piecemeal approach to a social housing strategy.