Campaspe Shire Council has narrowly passed its 2026-27 budget following a debate over a surprise $100,000 cash injection.
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McPherson Media Group
In a bizarre turn of events at the June council meeting, two Campaspe councillors voted against their own budget motion after a last-minute amendment left them full of regret and the chamber divided.
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While the 2026-27 budget was initially expected to pass smoothly, a last-minute amendment introduced by Cr Jessica Mitchell to inject an additional $100,000 into the Grant and Sponsorship program sparked opposition.
The allocation was to establish a dedicated grant fund for milestone celebrations.
Cr Zoe Cook backed the move and said there needed to be a fund for people to go to for special celebrations instead of using general grants.
Because the amendment was brought to the floor late, the original movers of the budget motion, Crs Tony Marwood and Rob Amos, had to procedurally agree to accept the addition, which they initially did.
Cr Jessica Mitchell introduced a last-minute amendment to the budget on Tuesday night, stirring debate.
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McPherson Media Group
However, in debate, Cr Paul Jarman criticised the way the amendment was introduced with little briefing and the long-term financial impact.
“I don’t think in any way, shape or form, in an environment of fiscal-ness that we require of our organisation that councillors sit here and change the budget by $100,000 a year, half a million dollars every five years, a million every 10 years, plus compounding,” Cr Jarman said.
“I’m disgusted … I cannot believe that’s happened after nine opportunities to contribute with hours of notice and very little planning — I find that abhorrent.”
Crs Amos and Marwood both spoke their regrets in allowing the amendment to be added and foreshadowed they would both be voting against the budget solely because of the amendment.
“It is a very large amount of money to throw in at the very last minute,” Cr Amos said.
“It’s a trend we’re seeing in this council that people don’t seem to be happy with things, so they throw notices of motion ... at the end of literally weeks and months of discussion.”
The motion for the budget, including the allocation of $100,000, passed with Crs Daniel Mackrell, Jessica Mitchell, Adrian Weston and Zoe Cook voting for, and Crs Paul Jarman, Rob Amos and Tony Marwood against.
Crs Luke Sharrock and John Zobec were absent for the vote.
This money will be taken out of the $9.65 million surplus projected for the 2026-27 budget.
