The association makes no secret of the fact that it believes that the Office of Local Government (OLG) makes every effort to avoid its responsibilities to ensure that NSW councils meet their obligations under the NSW Local Government Act 1993.
From the association’s direct experience, the OLG’s first response to every complaint it has pursued in respect of the behaviour of council has been to try & avoid responsibility by claiming that “councils are largely independent & self-governing bodies with discretions, rights and powers conferred by law”.
Only when pressed will the OLG reluctantly acknowledge some responsibility, but only “if there is a serious breakdown in council operations or major flaws in key council processes.” After the OLG refused to define what that particular circumstance might look like, the association went looking for a potential example.
On January 29th, 2020, the
Minister for Local Government announced
the dismissal of Balranald Shire Council after a public inquiry had found that it was “
plagued by entrenched performance and behavioural issues”.
More particularly the inquiry found that, amongst other things, Balranald Shire Council had:
• failed to command the confidence of its community;
• failed to appreciate the need for sound and consistent financial principles, with division among councillors affecting decision making;
• lacked an understanding of the importance of transparency in decision making, including inappropriate closure of council meetings; &
• failed to act as a responsible employer, particularly regarding the interaction between councillors and council staff, resulting in the loss of valuable personnel.
While the association cannot know the detailed circumstances behind each of those findings, it believes that many of the matters giving rise to
its complaints about the actions of council are of a more serious nature.
In the view of the association, the stubborn insistence of the OLG in dismissing factual evidence of council’s behaviour only serves to suggest that it is more committed to protecting the council than it is in serving the best interests of the community.
The association has concluded that the OLG is a weak & ineffective organisation that adds little if anything of material value to the administration of local government in NSW.
The association’s opinion of the Minister for Local Government, the Hon Shelley Hancock MP, differs little from its views on the OLG.
Apart from publishing a regular trail of shallow
Media Releases implying that the health of local government would be improved if more women sought election to local councils (see
here,
here &
here) the association can find little of material value that has been added by the current
Minister.
The association has routinely copied the Minister on its Media Releases, its correspondence with the OLG, as well as corresponding with her directly. The Minister has shown not the slightest interest in the matters raised, apparently content to let the apologists at the OLG carry the can.
As far as the association is concerned, the fact that we have a Minister of the Crown who apparently believes that by increasing the participation rate of one gender over the other within a sector of government will automatically improve the performance of that sector, serves only to demonstrate complete ignorance of the principle of merit.
The association believes that the role of the Minister should be to attract the very best people available to local government entirely on merit. In the view of the association, to do anything less is entirely discriminatory.
Returning to performance, if
Minister Hancock thinks that the encouraging women to join the ranks of local government is the most important thing she should be doing, the association would suggest that she should take a look at
the report into NSW Local Government published by the
NSW Auditor General last week, as there are suggestions aplenty on how that arm of government could be improved to the benefit of the entire state, instead of pandering to sectional interests.
John Richardson
Secretary/Treasurer
Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association
Tel: 0264945669
Email: secretary@begvalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
Website: http://www.begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au