By Ruza Zivkusic
KEILOR Labor MP George Seitz congratulated Brimbank mayor Margaret Giudice on being elected the mayor during his speech in parliament last week.
More than three months after councillor Giudice was appointed to the role, Mr Seitz praised her “ability” to manage the city and “lengthy apprenticeship”.
“Cr Giudice has shown that she is inclusive and that she works through issues in the city, and that is a breath of fresh air in the municipality,” Mr Seitz said.
“Now we do not have the public gallery full of protesters and security officers.
“The council is including the community and working through issues on a much more congenial level with everybody concerned,” he said.
(Mr Seitz was not quite accurate about the security officers, as there are still two officers present during council meetings.)
Cr Giudice thanked Mr Seitz for his comments and said she would “work to the best of my ability for the City of Brimbank”.
Former mayor Natalie Suleyman said there was nothing wrong with the local member congratulating the mayor of the municipality.
“When I was first elected mayor of City of Brimbank, Mr Seitz got up and congratulated me as well,” Cr Suleyman said.
Sunshine Residents and Ratepayers Association president Darlene Reilly said it was “refreshing” to have Cr Giudice mentioned in parliament but that Mr Seitz “did not get the story correct”.
“It’s early days and we still have security officers,” Ms Reilly said.
“When the security officers go, I will be the first one saying this is an improvement,” she said.
“At the moment nothing’s changed.”
