Flyer under fire

By Nicole Williams
AN ANONYMOUS election flyer has caused accusations to fly among Greater Dandenong councillors.
Councillor Peter Brown, who had the Vietnamese document translated, said it urged residents to not vote for him and five other ‘arrogant’ councillors in the October council elections.
The six councillors supported the naming of Multicultural Square over the community favoured Saigon Square, in March.
The document also features a photo of Councillor Loi Truong, which led Cr Brown to believe it had his endorsement.
Cr Brown put forward a motion at Monday night’s council meeting for the CEO to write to the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) seeking an investigation into the document.
“I resent being called arrogant and disrespectful of the community in choosing to support the broader community and not a sectional group which accounts for eight per cent of the population,” Cr Brown said.
Cr Truong vehemently denied any involvement, at Monday night’s council meeting.
“If the people want to bring it out and say something, I can’t stop them,” Cr Truong said.
“Before you say it is councillor endorsed, you should have some evidence.”
The motion was lost but Cr Brown said, although he believed Cr Truong, he would still refer the document to the VEC because it did not identify the publisher of the document and used Cr Truong’s photo and position without authorisation.
“There are two clear breeches of the Electoral Act. Anyone can refer to the VEC and that will be done,” Cr Brown said after the meeting.
“This is a warning to whoever is responsible that there are laws to be complied with.”