The Bega Valley shire has now well & truly climbed-out of the most recent drought, with most of the shire now classified as “drought affected” rather than “drought declared”. Of course, as is often the way with such events, well-intentioned government assistance arrives too late to make a difference or is so small as to be of no consequence.
Farmers in the
Brogo, Bemboka &
Numbugga areas, would have doubtless rolled their eyes when
Bega Valley Shire Council (BVSC) announced a few weeks ago that it was allocating $210,000 from a $1M federal drought assistance grant to assist with the cost of replacing some of the 150 kilometres of boundary fencing lost to the
Yankees Gap bushfire in August last year, in particular as those who had stock to protect had long ago built new boundary fencing, while council’s grants are only available to meet future fencing needs.
East Gippsland has been drought declared since 2016. It currently receives no federal government assistance, while the state government recently came-up with a $2,500-$3,500 assistance payment for farmers, some of whom have paid up to $100,000 for feed over the past 12 months, while trying to find up to $40,000 a year for council rates.
Little wonder that East Gippsland farmers are unhappy about the Victorian Government’s $13M effort when they see the NSW Government parting with $1.3B to assist their nearby cousins.
Of course, extreme conditions will more often than not bring out the very best in a community, in particular regional communities long used to having to be self-reliant.
So it was that one of Australia’s most successful businessmen
John Dahlsen, along with other
East Gippsland business owners, decided to mount a community-based response to provide direct financial assistance to farmers in the region.
At a public meeting called last month to promote their initiative, Dahlsen’s group was stunned to discover that there was a real reluctance on the part of both the State Government & East Gippsland Shire Council to support their initiative, as they apparently saw it as encroaching on “their turf”.
At the same time, it was obvious at the meeting that there was significant antipathy towards both the State Government & East Gippsland Shire Council for their perceived ongoing failure to adequately support the community when it most needed it.
From this experience,
John Dahlsen quickly came to the view that instead of being part of the solution,
East Gippsland Shire Council was actually part of the problem, so he sat down & wrote a paper titled
East Gippsland Shire Council - A Discussion Paper, detailing the difficulties of farmers trying to pay huge annual rate bills to council, while the only thing that they could see that their money was buying was an ever increasing bureaucracy that contributed little if anything of real value to their community.
While most people can come-up with details of an unhappy experience in dealing with their council, we rarely see a simple, logical but comprehensive summary of the issues in one document.
That is the real value of Dahlsen’s discussion paper, as it crystallises & highlights the experiences & concerns of many who, on the one hand, feel they are being abused by local government via their rates bills while, on the other, receiving little if any real support from a monolithic, self-serving bureaucracy, apparently concerned only with itself.
John Dahlsen’s discussion paper is a rallying cry for all residents & ratepayers in this country who are fed-up with the mistletoe that local government has become in the lives of so many communities.
The association believes that residents, ratepayers & communities everywhere will be able to relate to Dahlsen’s insightful analysis of the culture of East Gippsland Shire Council by recognising their own council through his words.
The association believes that anyone who is concerned about the quality of their local council, its real commitment to their community & its real capacity to deliver meaningful & affordable services should read Dahlsen’s paper & think about how they might respond to their challenge, just as their cousins in East Gippsland are already resolved to do.
John Richardson
Secretary/Treasurer
Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association
Tel: 0264945669
Email: secretary@begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
Website: http://www.begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
