Neville Kruss chaired this morning's meeting at Cilantro. Charles joined via Zoom, and guests included Ken Oakes, Gary Ramage, Gabriela Ammendola, and today's guest speaker - Nick Staikos M.P. for Bentleigh. PRESIDENT ANNOUNCEMENTS - Grant Perry
Grant welcomed club members and guests to today's meeting.
GUEST SPEAKER - Nick Staikos - Minister for Parliament for the State Government of Victoria
Nick Staikos outlined his background and where he is positioned today. He has spent most of his adult life in public office commencing in local government when he was elected to Glen Eira Council in 2005 at the age of 19, and then elected as the State Member for Bentleigh in November 2014. In December 2024 he was appointed to the dual roles of Minister for Local Government and Minister for Consumer Affairs. His 10 years in local government has provided a good understanding for his current role of Minister for Local Government, but acknowledges all councils are different with varying demographics and areas in size. Since his appointment he has looked at councils around the state with the view to consider what councils will look like in the future. Currently there are 78 councils in Victoria with 78 mayors and a little over 600 councillors, and he noted Victoria has 302 public libraries.
As Minister for Consumer Affairs for Victoria, he is currently involved in reviewing Consumer Laws that cover policies for real estate, residential tenancies, retirement villages and residential parks - particularly in the north and western suburbs. Other areas under review include motor vehicles, commercial trade, incorporated associations and owners corporations. For housing, considerations include dignity, fairness and equity, and safety. As the Member for Bentleigh, he was pleased to announce the new ambulance station will open soon in Bentleigh and will provide 6 ambulances, 35 paramedics and Mica units. Nick also touched on the new Metro Tunnel that is scheduled to open in early December. There are 5 new stations - ANZAC, Parkville, Arden, Town Hall and State Library - commenting they are state of the art with commercial facilities attached to the station precinct. The new line will provide an additional 1,000 services with trains running every 3 minutes when a new time table commences in February 2026. Nick concluded his presentation by answering a number of questions from club members.
Thank you Nick Staikos for your very informative talk that covered a lot of topics - it was much appreciated by everyone who attended.
DONATION TO THE ROTARY FOUNDATION
The board had approved a club donation of $10,000 to The Rotary Foundation at the last board meeting on Monday 6 October. In accordance with our club's Standing Orders that require club member approval for donations of $5,000 or more, club members were invited to vote on the motion.
Motion:
Club members of the Rotary Club of Bentleigh Moorabbin Central Inc approve a club donation of $10,000 to The Rotary Foundation.
Moved: Peter O'Brien. Seconded: Ron Brownlees. Motion carried.
ROSTERS
The rosters for the upcoming market and next week's club meeting were announced.
GUEST SPEAKER FOR NEXT WEEK'S MEETING
The Mayor for Glen Eira Council, Simone Zmood, will be our guest speaker for next week - 29 October 2025.
President Grant closed the meeting and looks forward to seeing everyone next week.
