The vote is in. Council has officially notified IPART of their intention to apply for a Special Rate Variation and signaled that they will begin community consultation. Every Councilor except Cr Jessica Jurd and CR Quintin King voted in favor. Let’s be clear: this vote doesn’t approve the rate rise itself — it starts the process. But the implications are huge. Council now has the green light to ask IPART for permission to raise rates, while beginning a consultation process designed to inform the community after the fact. Councilors blamed the previous Council repeatedly, and the CFO struggled to answer basic questions,...