Graffiti activist cost cops spray

Mr Piraino was in Australia for an international graffiti conference in Brisbane last week, and was invited to visit Casey by councilors Ben Clissold and Wayne Smith.

From Phoenix, Arizona, Mr Piraino is the inspiration behind Casey's tough stance on graffiti.

Cr Clissold met Mr Piraino when he visited Phoenix two years ago.

At a meeting, the council decided it would "sponsor" Mr Piraino's visit, however not all councillors supported the idea.

Cr Mick Morland described the visit as a "waste of ratepayer money".

"Our residents will not benefit from us flying over someone from the other side of the world to present his paper to us.

"I do thank him for his work, but as someone who is looking after the ratepayers' money, I do not see the benefit - it is not our money to spend on this."

Cr Smith argued that while Casey's graffiti policy was good, Mr Piraino could offer the city his insight into involving the whole community in a zero tolerance approach to combating graffiti.

During his visit Mr Piraino met local MPs, Rotary clubs and police and visited schools, Bunnings stores and Myuna Farm.