The NSW Government’s half-baked proposal to replace public council meetings, currently open to residents & ratepayers, with “virtual” on-line meetings from which they will be excluded, is simply a further cynical attempt to make government & its representatives less available & accountable to the electorate.
Notwithstanding the complete absence of evidence to support their contention, the Minister for Local Government, Shelley Hancock, & the Minister for Mental Health, Regional Youth & Women, Bronnie Taylor, argue that the convenience of such an arrangement would result in more women being able to participate in local government.
If either Hancock or Taylor knew the first thing about how councils work, they would know that the timing of council meetings is at the absolute convenience & discretion of the elected Councillors, with such decisions routinely taken when they first assume office.
In 2016, the residents of the Bega Valley elected a nine member Council consisting of six women & three men. In a decision that was widely criticised at the time, that council then determined to meet at 2:00PM every third Wednesday, making it difficult for many residents to attend council meetings in person.
That in turn made it more difficult for residents to voice their opinions on important issues directly to their alleged representatives or to try & influence the outcome of their deliberations.
More to the point, they would also know that, according to the NSW Local Government Association, the role of Councillors in NSW is now a full-time job, for which they receive the princely sum of $18,667 annually in fees, or the equivalent of $10.25 per hour, while Hancock & Taylor gorge themselves on more than $300K annually in return for their dumb ideas.
If Hancock & Taylor were at all interested in improving the quality of candidates willing to serve as Councillors in NSW, they would do something about ensuring that such positions were adequately remunerated. That, in turn, should mean that residents & ratepayers would be more likely to demand that Councillors be held accountable for their performance.
Again, according to Taylor:
"You don’t need any formal qualifications to stand for election – all you need is a strong will and a desire to make a difference in your local community."
Poppycock.
While the association notes that such flimsy qualifications appear acceptable for state government politicians, it rejects entirely that they are acceptable at a local government level.
The fact that the overwhelming majority of women Councillors in the Bega Valley have acknowledged that they do not understand council finances, even after four years in office, might just explain the parlous state of council’s financial affairs, resulting in a $14M deficit in its General Fund & a $10M deficit overall in 2018-2019.
The NSW Government has form when it comes to reducing opportunities for the direct participation of the electorate in local government affairs by allowing councils to deal with public submissions away from ordinary meetings of council, where they are less likely to be heard.
This latest attempt to insulate Councillors from the electorate & allow government to operate even more secretively is just more of the same nonsense, albeit dressed-up as an attempt to improve the quality of representation in local government affairs.
And finally, for the record, the association challenges Taylor & Hancock to produce their government’s policy stating that it supports the entirely bogus principle of Gender Equality.
John Richardson
Secretary/Treasurer
Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association
Tel: 0264945669
Email: secretary@begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
Website: http://www.begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au