Labor to deny residents rights
The NSW Minister for Local Government is guilty of undermining democracy. He has
promised Councils that, if
they vote to "pursue" amalgamation with another Council, not only do they not have to
consult their
residents, they won't even have to face the residents at an election this year. The
Minister set such a tight
deadline that, even if a Council or Councillors wanted to consult their residents,
there was insufficient
time.
He has further conned the residents because there is no process for deciding how the
amalgamated council will
be redivided into wards, or how many Councillors there will be, or what the voting
system will be.
But how can the voting system change you will ask? Simple, just have 2 Councillors to
be elected per ward and
bingo! You no longer have proportional representation but a rather sneaky version of
winner takes all. As an
example, if South Sydney and Botany Bay Councils amalgamate, the outcome will almost
certainly be a new
Council made up of Labor Councillors. No independents, no Greens, just Labor mates.
I am sure that many Councillors do not realise this. It is likely that in voting to
pursue amalgamation they
may end up delivering an ALP dictatorship to their residents.
Now is the time to stop this farce. If Councils wish to amalgamate, then the simple
process is to go to the
people. A referendum question to be voted on by the residents at the same time as the
Council elections this
September is the proper democratic way to seek a mandate for amalgamation.
ALP Minister for Local Government, Harry Woods, should stop trying to prop up the
ailing Labor-dominated
Councils in the inner city. Let us hope that other members of State Parliament
(Liberal, National, Green,
Democrat & Independent) realise what the ALP is up to. They should vote against the
Minister's undemocratic
legislation.
This document attached as Word6 file - it is not copyright so please send it (amended
if you like) to as many
people as possible.
Bruce Welch
noelct6 (Microsoft Word Document)
