City of Greater Geelong

鈥楪eelong council needs a shake up鈥, say socialist candidates

Geelong Council was sacked in April last year by the Victorian state government. It was accused of being dysfunctional, having no long-term strategic plan and failing to respond to a highly-publicised report on bullying in the council.

As serious as some of these allegations were 鈥 particularly those regarding bullying 鈥 neither of us as Geelong residents felt they warranted the undemocratic sacking of a duly-elected council. Surely the people of Geelong should be the ones that make any such decision?

Hundreds picket Geelong oil refinery

Three hundred workers assembled at the entry of the Geelong oil refinery on October 7 for a community protest against unsafe conditions at the refinery.

The 60-year-old refinery, previously operated by Shell, was bought by Viva Energy Australia in August 2014, and it immediately pledged $150 million for maintenance work.

Geelong stands up to mayor's sexism

A rally was held in Geelong on October 12 to protest mayor Darryn Lyons鈥 sexism. Lyons was photographed at a local Octoberfest event on October 10 wearing a t-shirt featuring an image of a naked Madonna hitchhiking, taken from her 1992 book Sex, paired with the caption 鈥淕as, grass or ass, no one rides for free鈥. Fellow Geelong councillor Jan Farrell was the first to speak out about the photos. She posted on her Facebook page: 鈥淭his is what passes for leadership at Geelong. As a woman who lives and works in Geelong I am beyond offended at [Lyons鈥橾 ongoing disrespect for women.鈥