Letter from a Springfield resident

4 Adam St
Nunawading
3131 Vic
4/12/05

Dear Editor,
I would like to take this opportunity to express sincere thanks to Cr. Sharon Partridge who did not retain her seat at the recent council elections. The energy and heart that she put into her role as councillor over the past three years is inspiring and greatly appreciated by the groups that she supported.

Residents and community groups who have worked closely with Sharon will know that she is a tireless worker and champion of the under privileged in the community. She has stood up as an opponent to overdevelopment throughout our entire city as demonstrated by her stance on the Colombo St Towers; to name one.

Her support for many groups such as Reach Out for Kids, the Winter Sleepout for the Homeless and Pay it Forward youth team, are testament to the way she has inconspicuously worked for the young of our city.

As a teacher I fully understand how vital the support of such groups is to improving the quality of life for our disadvantaged youth across this city; they are our future.

In my observation, Cr.Partridge has shown that representation is not just taking care of roads, rates and rubbish. I commend her for the courage that she has shown throughout her term; often against strong resistance from others in chamber.

I regret that this truly independent voice for locals seems to have fallen victim to the flaws of the preferential system. I and many other voters were unaware of the implications of this process and the way votes are transferred from the candidates that we have chosen as first and second preference. Many voters like myself may feel that we were duped by the system.

I hope that Cr.Partridge will grant us an opportunity at the next election to reinstate her as our independent voice for the community.
Yours sincerely
Barbara Wandoch

Uplift Project

Sharon Partridge on behalf of Rotary Mitcham helping Liz Barker with Uplift project - Bras for
our overseas neighbours

Big day for Rotary. Pre opening of the freeway beyond Springvale Rd through to Ringwood. Rotary cooked over 6tonne of sausages. It was great to be invovled as a Rotarian but I still will always regret the tolling of this road which I stood against.

Victorian Womens Petition Centenary 2008

In an extraordinary effort to gain the right to vote for all Victorian women, a handful of dedicated women took to the streets in 1891 to collect signatures for a petition to present to the Parliament of Victoria. The result was an impressive collection of close to 30,000 signatures from women from all walks of life.

Its tremendous length earned it the name of the ‘Monster Petition'.Now one of the State's archival treasures,the original petition is approximately 260 metres long and 200mm wide.

Victorian Womens Petition 2008

Celebrating 100 years since Victorian women won the right to vote
http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/about/the-history-of-parliament/womens-suffrage-petition