Former Bega Valley shire Mayor & recently elected Member for Eden-Monaro, Kristy McBain, hit the big time recently as one of the guest panellists on the ABC’s popular Q&A program, which regularly reaches an average audience of almost 600,000 Australians.
Asked what image best sums-up 2020 for her, Ms McBain said in her response:
“The first image that comes to mind is an image of the Bermagui Country Club.
There were about 2,000 people in the room New Year’s Day, or the 2nd of January I think it was, & I was trying to give people as much information as possible because the Badger fire was coming back & was headed towards toward the township of Bermagui.”
The association was not surprised that Ms McBain conjured-up an image which involved her being front & centre of a large audience given, in its view, that she has pursued every opportunity to fashion an image as the community’s protector.
For its part, the association believes that the majority of Australians would recall horrifying images concerned with the direct impact of last summer’s bushfires on their lives, including coming to terms with the tragic loss of 33 loved ones, the deaths of a further 450 Australians from the effects of smoke inhalation, the destruction of 3,000 homes, the destruction of 19 million hectares of property & the annihilation of more than a billion native animals.
Indeed, the association believes that it was her populist image that helped secure Ms McBain the nomination as the Labor Party’s candidate in the Eden-Monaro by-election & her subsequent win in that election by the slimmest margin of less than 1%.
But, in fairness to Ms McBain, some of her colleagues at council have also shown a readiness to pursue the limelight, whether it’s been to play chaperone for the Prime Minister during his unwelcomed visit to the bushfire ravaged town of Cobargo, to pose for attention-seeking photos during a publicity stunt on the Sydney Harbor Bridge or dressed-up in an oversized Drize-abone outside Parliament House in Canberra & even at one point appearing in a video telling the Deputy Premier of NSW, John Barilaro, to “get fxxcked”
Last Friday
Ms McBain continued her charm offensive when she participated in an
easy interview conducted by
Colin Dunn on
Sapphire FM Community Radio.
During that interview, Ms McBain took the opportunity to remind listeners that she had actually been a guest on Q&A twice this year & had recently been complimented by the suggestion that she possesses “the common touch”.
Wow!!
In an earlier public appearance back in March, 2017, the then NSW Minister for Local Government was persuaded to award Ms McBain a Minister’s Award as “a role model in council & the community”, less than six months after she was elected to the position of Mayor.
Speaking to the
Award in a
council Media Release, council’s general manager described the award as “
well-deserved” & “
recognition of hard work & commitment”, without bothering to reveal that she had actually nominated
Cr McBain, while the association believes that the nomination itself was made without the knowledge of her fellow councillors.
In the
Nomination Form for the
Award, the general manager claimed, amongst other things that “
Cr McBain has been responsible for the start of a cultural & structural shift within council & the broader community – leading by example.”
Less than a month later, council was at it again, this time publishing a
Media Release claiming that
Cr McBain had been awarded a “
Governor General’s Medal for her leadership skills & can-do personality aimed at accomplishing goals for the community.”
Needless to say,
council ignored the association's request for it to correct the public record & review its
Media Procedures, which it believed had been breached. The
Office of Local Government also refused to address this deception of residents & ratepayers.
The association believes that, when it comes to politicians of all persuasions, at all levels, the electorate would do well to be mindful of Shakespeare’s aphorism that "All that glitters is not gold".
Indeed.
John Richardson
Secretary/Treasurer
Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association
Tel: 0264945669
Email: secretary@begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
Website: http://www.begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au