Rates & spending · Orange City Council
Two Orange groups left waiting on donation requests worth $4,224
Carousel Kids Preloved Market will return to the 1 December Small Donations round, while Orange Regional Malayalee Association must answer questions before its $2,500 Onam festival request is reconsidered.
Reporting from public council minutes. How this article was prepared
Orange City Council’s Finance Policy Committee deferred donation requests totalling $4,224 from Carousel Kids Preloved Market and Orange Regional Malayalee Association, leaving both groups without funding approval from the 1 September meeting.
Carousel Kids’ $1,724 application was deferred to the next Small Donations round. A council director told the committee that the round is scheduled for 1 December 2026, rather than the next committee meeting. The money was sought for planning, setting up and delivering a preloved children’s market.
The committee also deferred the Malayalee Association’s $2,500 request for its Onam festival so the applicant could provide clarification. The minutes record questions about the event’s frequency, but no date is given for a further decision.
Staff also told councillors that the association had not provided an acquittal for an earlier donation because the event had not yet occurred. The director said staff understood the earlier funds were being held for the next event, while the minutes record that the event schedule had not been made clear to staff.
What deserves a closer look
The two applications have different recorded next steps: Carousel Kids has a named future funding round, while the Malayalee Association request remains dependent on clarification with no reconsideration date recorded.
The minutes record uncertainty about the event schedule alongside the outstanding acquittal, but do not record a final decision on the Malayalee Association's eligibility or entitlement to funding.
Questions for follow-up reporting
What clarification will Orange Regional Malayalee Association provide before its application is reconsidered?
When will the Malayalee Association application return for consideration?
What is the eventual status of the earlier donation and acquittal?
What happens next
Consider the Carousel Kids application in the next Small Donations round on 1 December 2026, as recorded in the deferral resolution and staff advice.
Obtain clarification from Orange Regional Malayalee Association before reconsidering its donation request, as required by the deferral resolution.
Check the record
These passages were matched to the source text. Read them in context in the original minutes.
The Carousel Kids Preloved Market application for $1,724 was deferred to the next Small Donations round.
Absent: Cr J Whitton RESOLVED - 26/465 Cr K Duffy/Cr T Mileto 2d) That Council DEFER consideration of the donation of $1,724 to Carousel Kids Preloved Market to contribute to key costs associated with planning, setting up and delivering a preloved children's market to the next round of Small Donation applications.
Resolution 26/465
Open original minutes ↗The Director Corporate & Commercial Services identified 1 December 2026 as the next Small Donations round and advised that consideration at the next Finance Policy Committee meeting would be out of cycle.
The Director Corporate & Commercial Services advised that if it is brought to the next Finance Policy Committee Meeting than it will be out of cycle which goes against the new policy, so it will need to be deferred for consideration in the next round of Small Donations on 1 December 2026.
Director's advice following Resolution 26/465
Open original minutes ↗Orange Regional Malayalee Association's $2,500 Onam festival request was deferred to obtain clarification from the applicant.
RESOLVED - 26/470 Cr S Peterson/Cr T Greenhalgh 2i) That Council DEFER consideration of the donation of $2,500 to Orange Regional Malayalee Association to contribute to the cost of the Onam festival to obtain clarification from the applicant.
Resolution 26/470
Open original minutes ↗In discussion of Orange Regional Malayalee Association's request, the Director Corporate & Commercial Services said an acquittal for last year's donation had not been provided because the event had not yet occurred, and said she understood the previously donated funds were being banked for the next event.
RESOLVED - 26/470 Cr S Peterson/Cr T Greenhalgh 2i) That Council DEFER consideration of the donation of $2,500 to Orange Regional Malayalee Association to contribute to the cost of the Onam festival to obtain clarification from the applicant. For: Cr S Peterson (Chairperson), Cr T Mileto (Mayor), Cr T Greenhalgh (Deputy Mayor), Cr K Duffy, Cr F Kinghorne, Cr D Mallard, Cr M McDonell, Cr G Power, Cr M Ruddy, Cr J Stedman Against: Nil Absent: Cr J Whitton, Cr G Judge Cr Ruddy noted that in a previous year this applicant received donations for their event and then later in the same year submitted another request for the same event and asked if staff are expecting this to occur again this year. The Director Corporate & Commercial Services advised that when staff asked for an acquittal for last year's donation from the applicant they were not provided one as the event had not yet occurred, and that is her understanding that the funds previously donated are being banked in advance for the next event.
Resolution 26/470 and subsequent discussion
Open original minutes ↗The Director Corporate & Commercial Services said the event's frequency had not been made clear to staff.
Cr Peterson asked if this is a singular event running each year with the same amount requested each time, or if this is a bi-annual event they are banking funds for. The Director Corporate & Commercial Services advised that this has not been made clear to staff.
Discussion following Resolution 26/470
Open original minutes ↗Cr Judge declared an interest, left the meeting and did not participate in discussion or voting on the Orange Regional Malayalee Association item.
For: Cr S Peterson (Chairperson), Cr T Mileto (Mayor), Cr T Greenhalgh (Deputy Mayor), Cr K Duffy, Cr G Judge, Cr F Kinghorne, Cr D Mallard, Cr M McDonell, Cr G Power, Cr M Ruddy, Cr J Stedman Against: Nil Absent: Cr J Whitton FINANCE POLICY COMMITTEE MINUTES 1 SEPTEMBER 2026 Page 5 Cr Judge declared a Significant Non-Pecuniary Interest in this Item as he is President of Orange Centrals Cricket Club that has players involved in the event, left the meeting with the time being 8.25pm and did not participate in discussion or voting. RECOMMENDATION Cr T Mileto/Cr G Power 2i) That Council donate $2,500 to Orange Regional Malayalee Association to contribute to the cost of the Onam festival. AMENDMENT Cr S Peterson/Cr T Greenhalgh 2i) That Council DEFER consideration of the donation of $2,500 to Orange Regional Malayalee Association to contribute to the cost of the Onam festival to obtain clarification from the applicant. For: Cr S Peterson (Chairperson), Cr T Mileto (Mayor), Cr T Greenhalgh (Deputy Mayor), Cr K Duffy, Cr F Kinghorne, Cr D Mallard, Cr M McDonell, Cr G Power, Cr M Ruddy, Cr J Stedman Against: Nil Absent: Cr J Whitton, Cr G Judge THE AMENDMENT ON BEING PUT WAS CARRIED AND BECAME THE MOTION. RESOLVED - 26/470 Cr S Peterson/Cr T Greenhalgh 2i) That Council DEFER consideration of the donation of $2,500 to Orange Regional Malayalee Association to contribute to the cost of the Onam festival to obtain clarification from the applicant.
Item 2.1-2(i), declaration, amendment vote and Resolution 26/470
Open original minutes ↗Source record
Reporting from the minutes of Orange City Council’s Finance Policy Committee meeting held on 1 September 2026. The supplied record does not establish whether the minutes have been confirmed.
Key facts from the minutes
- The committee deferred Carousel Kids Preloved Market’s $1,724 application to the next Small Donations round.
- Staff identified 1 December 2026 as the date for that next round.
- The committee deferred Orange Regional Malayalee Association’s $2,500 Onam festival application for clarification.
- The minutes record staff advice that an acquittal for an earlier donation had not been provided because the event had not yet occurred.
- Cr G Judge declared an interest, left the meeting and did not participate in the Malayalee Association vote.
Why it matters
- Carousel Kids’ application was deferred for consideration in the 1 December 2026 Small Donations round. The Malayalee Association’s request remains unresolved while Council seeks clarification, with no reconsideration date recorded.