19/11/2025
WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE SHIRE OF GINGIN?
This community has every right to be asking serious questions about election integrity, conflicts of interest, and governance in the Shire of Gingin.
This post sets out the concerns that many residents, scrutineers and observers are now raising openly.
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🗳 1. Election Integrity & the Returning Officer
Serious concerns have been raised about the conduct of the Returning Officer during the Shire of Gingin local government election.
Based on what scrutineers and candidates witnessed and documented, many in the community believe there is a high probability that ballot tampering or improper handling may have occurred during the count.
Because of this, there are growing calls for:
• The serious failures of the Returning Officer to be fully investigated; and
• The matter to be referred to the Public Sector Commission to consider whether serious misconduct proceedings are warranted.
Cr Stewart’s page has already shared factual material from the Western Australian Electoral Commission (WAEC) that confirms there were election integrity issues and breaches in how the election was run.
Anyone who still has no concerns about what’s going on in the Shire of Gingin is, in the eyes of many residents, either:
• involved in the shenanigans, or
• choosing not to see what’s in front of them.
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🏛 2. Councillors Voting Against Accountability
Only a small number of councillors are consistently pushing for transparency, communication and accountability.
Recently, a motion was put forward that would have:
• created stronger communication accountability, and
• drastically improved customer service within the Shire.
Yet the following councillors voted against that motion:
• Craig Hyne
• Linda Balcombe
• Andrea Vis
• Rob Kestel
• Frank Peczka
• Nikki Woods
Ratepayers are entitled to ask:
Why would any councillor oppose a motion that improves communication and customer service for the community?
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🚜 3. Why Is Former President Wayne Fewster Still So Involved?
Another concern being raised is the ongoing involvement of former Shire President Wayne Fewster, who resigned long ago.
Residents report that Wayne has been:
• rallying farmers to protest against certain motions, and
• appearing to know about internal administrative matters before the public agenda is even released.
That raises some serious questions:
• How is he getting this inside information?
• Who is supplying him with internal Shire business after his resignation?
• Why is a former President so closely involved in current decision-making and lobbying?
These are exactly the sorts of issues that undermine public trust.
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⚠️ 4. Allegations of Election Pressure & Threats
There is also breaking information (which will be further detailed in due course) regarding a very serious allegation:
That an elected member allegedly tried to influence a candidate by threat during the election.
The allegation is that the candidate was told they would receive:
• favours, and
• protection of their home from fires
if they:
• supported the “right” candidates – namely Balcombe and Hyne, and
• if elected, voted for Balcombe to become Shire President.
If proven, that would represent a profound abuse of position and a complete breakdown of ethical standards. This is exactly the sort of matter that should be closely examined by the relevant integrity bodies.
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🏟 5. The Gingin Recreation Group, Mining & Money Flows
Then there is the Gingin Recreation Group.
Residents are raising serious questions about how this organisation works and who benefits from it.
According to community information and publicly known roles:
• It is a charitable organisation set up by previous and current councillors and their closely related friends.
• It receives land donations from a mining company.
• This is the same mining company that councillors are required to vote on when related agenda items go to Council.
• The donated land is then leased out to people who pay.
• The funds from the leased property are then donated back to sporting clubs that:
• councillors are directly associated with, or
• their family members are involved in.
Specific roles that have been raised include:
• Fewster is reportedly President of the Gingin Recreation Group.
• Kestel is (or was until recently) a board member who has just resigned.
• Both Fewster, Kestel and Steve Balcombe (the President’s husband) are or have been presidents of the sporting clubs linked to this structure.
• Other councillors are reported to have links through those same clubs and associations.
This raises obvious questions about conflicts of interest and indirect financial benefit, including:
• Are councillors voting on mining-related matters that flow back, even indirectly, into clubs and organisations they or their families are involved with?
• How independent are those decisions when the same small group of individuals is embedded across council, clubs, and the Recreation Group?
Residents are encouraged to look this up for themselves:
• Search “Gingin Recreation Group” online or on Facebook.
• Check its status on the ASIC or relevant associations/charities registers.
• Ask: Where is the website? Where are the published financials? Where are the AGM minutes and annual statements?
Given the structure described above, it is completely reasonable for the community to expect the Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) and other watchdogs to be taking a very close look.
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🧹 6. Can CEO Scott Wildgoose Clean This Up?
All of this raises a big question about leadership at the top of the administration:
Is CEO Scott Wildgoose up for the task of cleaning that joint up?
Will he:
• do the right thing by the community and ratepayers?
• insist on proper governance, transparency and accountability?
• recommend that Council be stood down and Commissioners appointed if that is what is required to restore public trust?
If that happens, it will show that one or two councillors who have been raising concerns for a long time were absolutely right to do so.
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🕵️♂️ 7. Information Leaks & David Rowe’s Questions
Another issue being talked about in the community:
How did ex-President David Rowe know about private information relating to an elected member – information that isn’t public?
Yet, during Public Question Time at last Tuesday’s Council meeting, Rowe asked questions based on that information on the public record.
This raises very serious concerns about:
• internal confidentiality,
• potential unauthorised disclosure of information, and
• the use of inside knowledge to target sitting councillors.
Where did he get that information?
Who passed it to him?
Why is non-public information being used in public forums?
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📄 8. Council Meetings, Debate & Representation
Many residents are also deeply concerned about the quality of representation and debate in council meetings themselves.
In particular, some community members feel that:
• If the two most ineffective councillors ever elected are not Cr Woods and Cr Vis, they would like to see evidence to the contrary.
The pattern observed in the minutes is that:
• Cr Vis moves motion after motion, but rarely, if ever, contributes substantively to debate.
• Cr Woods repeatedly seconds motions and is seldom heard contributing to discussion, which raises questions about whether she is fully engaging with the agenda.
Under meeting procedures:
• Moving a motion gives a councillor the right to speak first in debate and a right of reply at the end.
• When motions are moved but no debate is offered by the mover, it can have the effect of limiting or chilling proper discussion by other councillors who have read their agendas and do want to debate and respond.
Some residents believe that:
• Vis, by moving motions without engaging in debate, is effectively denying other councillors proper due process.
• Woods appears to have been encouraged to run to act as a reliable vote for the Shire President, rather than as an independent and engaged representative. They point to the fact that she does not contribute to debate and has never meaningfully done so, which would require fully reading and understanding the agenda.
If you doubt this, you are encouraged to:
👉 Read through the previous minutes yourself and see whether this pattern exists.
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9. Where To From Here?
Put all of this together and you see why so many people are worried:
• Election integrity failures and concerns about ballot handling
• A Returning Officer whose conduct should, in many eyes, be reviewed for serious misconduct
• Councillors opposing transparency and better customer service
• A former President still rallying farmers and appearing to act on inside information
• Allegations of election-time pressure and promised favours
• A Recreation Group and mining–land–leasing–sporting club structure riddled with potential conflicts
• A CEO who now has the challenge of either fixing it or failing the community
• Ex-President Rowe asking public questions based on non-public information
• Council meetings where some councillors move and second motions without meaningful debate, raising representation concerns
If the Corruption and Crime Commission and other integrity bodies are not already looking very closely at the Shire of Gingin, many residents would be very surprised.
The community deserves:
• honesty,
• transparency, and
• a Council and administration that act in the best interests of ratepayers.
Voices of Gingin – Community & Council Matters
Here to ask the questions others won’t.
