Latest news with #OscarYildiz
The Age
10-08-2025
- Politics
- The Age
The unlikely trio ready to kick goals in Spring Street
We at CBD HQ are eagerly counting down the days until next year's Victorian election. But while all signs are pointing to another blowout at the polls, a few bench warmers are busy plotting their offensive from the sidelines. Merri-bek councillor Oscar Yildiz, along with former AFL players Anthony Koutoufides and Paul Dimattina, have their sights set on Spring Street, and are in the early days of setting up their very own political party. It's an unlikely trio, to say the least. But if a game of Markers Up is featured at any point in the election cycle – we know who our money will be on. CBD managed to get hold of Yildiz while he was enjoying a quick few putts at the golf course on Sunday. He assured us that there's a lot more work to do before anything is set in stone – but that he has complete trust in his new allies. 'We're honestly at the thinking stage … We haven't even got a constitution. We haven't even sat down and had a proper [conversation],' the councillor said. 'We just want to hold people to account … I'm a straight shooter, and Kouta and Dimma would say the same thing.' The new crew have an event booked in for September, when they'll hold a lunch with some local movers and shakers to break bread and talk politics. Regular readers will recall that things didn't go too well at the last state political party Yildiz was connected with, the shortlived Victorians Party. He tells us that he's feeling better about things the second time around. 'There's no Clive Palmer or anyone like that behind us. We're not going to allow anyone else to really try and come in and hijack this party like happened with the last one,' Yildiz said.
Daily Mail
17-06-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
Hundreds of thousands of Australians wrongly given parking fines: How to get your money back
A Melbourne council has overcharged nearly 250,000 rate payers for breaching parking time limits. The major parking fine bungle saw Merri-bek Council overcharge more than $12million to an estimated 248,000 motorists between 2013 and when the oversight was uncovered this month. Merri-bek Council, formerly Moreland Council, covers regions including Brunswick, Coburg, Pascoe Vale and parts of Fitzroy North. The motorists were overcharged, on average, $50 more per fine and now the council needs to find $12million to repay the fined drivers. Merri-bek Council's longest serving councillor Oscar Yildiz blamed an administrative error made in 2013 for the blunder. 'As a councillor, I want to acknowledge that council made a serious mistake,' he said. 'As soon as this came to light, we acted quickly, took responsibility, and established a 12-month refund scheme for those affected. Yes, it will impact our budget, but doing the right thing matters more.' Starting in early July, an opt-in refund scheme will be available for a year, giving people the chance to recover the overcharged portion. CEO of Merri-bek City Council Cathy Henderson apologised to those affected. 'Today's announcement reflects Merri-bek City Council's commitment to integrity, transparency and fairness. Now that we have found the mistake, we are fixing it,' she said. 'This is a regrettable historical administrative error, and we apologise for the impact of the overcharge. 'Parking is a limited resource and to ensure fair access for everyone, parking restrictions and controls are necessary. All revenue raised from parking fines is reinvested back into our community to provide services and facilities to the Merri-bek community. ' The 11 fines eligible for refunds 1. Parked for period longer than indicated 2. Parked fail to pay & obey instructions on sign 3. Stopped contrary to a No Parking sign 4. Stopped on a bicycle parking area 5. Stopped on a motor bike parking area 6. Parked contrary to requirement of parking area 7. Parked not at an angle of 45 degrees 8. Parked not at an angle of 90 degrees 9. Parked not completely within a parking bay 10. Parked long vehicle exceed minimum number of bays 11. Parked wide vehicle exceed minimum number of bays
