It’s been said that Democracy consists of four key elements: a political system for choosing & replacing political representatives through free & fair elections; the active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics & civic life; protection of the human rights of all citizens & the rule of law, in which the laws & procedures apply equally to all citizens.
The association believes that “the active participation of the people as citizens” not only includes the right to be consulted by government as to its intentions on important public issues, but also includes having ready access to information about the activities of government, ready access to public opinion & political debate about those issues (whether via the media or government information sources), & ready access to the workings of government, including access to meetings or recordings of same, as well as the opportunity to engage directly with those who would govern.
The association believes that when it comes to Local Government in the Bega Valley, the adequacy of such access is unacceptable.
With the development & growth of the Internet in recent years, both the dissemination of & access to information about the activities of government, particularly in the realm of Local Government, has increasingly been via that medium.
At the same time, the decline of local print & radio media services has not only seen reporting on the activities of government activities reduced, but the quality of that reporting & the opportunity for public awareness & debate about those activities has also declined.
Nowhere is the impact of these developments more apparent than in the sphere of local government where an inability to access council’s website or social media pages renders residents & ratepayers almost blind to most of its activities. With upwards of 20% of households in the Bega Valley not having access to the Internet, ready access to the doings of council is already seriously inhibited for a substantial number of residents & ratepayers.
The decline in media services has also meant that government, including council, is less exposed to independent scrutiny, while conversely, the increasing readiness of bureaucrats & politicians to add their own “spin” to their public utterances reduces public knowledge, understanding & awareness of government activities.
With the advent of the Covid 2019 pandemic, public access to information & the means to engage with government has declined further, with council meetings now being conducted electronically to suit the convenience of bureaucrats & politicians, while the public are excluded from direct participation.
Public Forums, where residents & ratepayers were previously afforded an opportunity to address their elected representatives on their concerns about issues, are now also conducted electronically, with the public denied visibility of any submission not offered via that process.
Fundamentally & most importantly, the refusal of council to conduct physical council meetings in the Council Chambers is to deny residents & ratepayers the opportunity to scrutinise the performance of their elected representatives & succeeds only in alienating them from the workings of their alleged democracy.
It was difficult enough pre-Covid 2019 for many residents & ratepayers to attend & participate in council meetings given their timing. More recent restrictions have only magnified that difficulty.
With all of the above in-mind, the association believes that it is time for council to resume its previous meeting arrangements in the shire’s $10M
"Palace of Dreams", thereby helping to restore meaningful access for residents & ratepayers to the functions & activities of those who claim to represent them.
The association understands that the Council Chambers at Zingel Place are spacious enough to accommodate such arrangements while permitting meaningful public access & participation.
It’s time for council to return to its previous meeting arrangements & conduct its activities to suit the convenience of the residents & ratepayers it allegedly exists to serve, rather than pandering solely to the whims of councillors & bureaucrats.
John Richardson
Secretary/Treasurer
Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association
Tel: 0264945669
Email: secretary@begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
Website: http://www.begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
