On Wednesday, July 28, 2021, the Wingecarribee Shire Council (WSC) interim administrator, Viv May, stated in his minute at the WSC Meeting, that the "final report to the Minister under s438N of Local Government Act," will "include recommendations that [in his view] will improve the proper and effective functioning of the council." Appended to s438N will be a note about s438u, a full Public Inquiry into the WSC.
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What could've arisen that influenced Mr May's thinking, when only a few days ago he was still publicly proclaiming that there would be no inquiry and that his term would end on September 10?
The reports tabled by Mr May on July 28 were already published before the Minister announced that council elections would be postponed until December 4. Only days ago, Mr May was still insisting an inquiry was not warranted. So it can't be the content of those reports that has changed his mind. So, what could be the reason/s for this change of mind?
Could it be that the NSW Minister for Local Government, Shelly Hancock, needed an urgent solution to keep the pro-development Mr May in the seat of power as long as possible to prosecute the will of the NSW Government?
Could it be the niggling of local Members of Parliament stepping outside their responsibilities and getting into the ear of the interim administrator to further their popular political standing?
Could it be because the suspended mayor proclaimed on ABC Radio that he would look to make some changes to the matters "carried" by the autocratic, one-man show?
Whatever the reason/s for the change of mind, the fact is that many Wingecarribee ratepayers are not familiar with public inquiries. Why would we be? They don't impact our towns and villages all that often, do they?
Please understand that public inquiries are protracted and very expensive. If you don't like council rate rises, you will most certainly hate the next one to pay the bill of a public inquiry. Some of the more enlightened Wingecarribee ratepayers think a public inquiry will last about 12 months. Think again! It could be that that an administrator might be appointed until the 2024 LGA elections, if the Minister agrees to S438u!
But it's really a lot worse than that...really! What is at stake is what I've been saying in local social media for a while now, way back when the suspension of the WSC was mooted in March. The fact is that our local community will move to an autocratic, one-man approval process in which the word "carried!" will be the cry at the end of each agenda item without question or interrogation.
Each utterance of "carried!" by the administrator heralds the adoption of a motion in which there was no, zero, zilch, real local Highlands' representative being able to contest an item, or present a motion.
The governance of the Wingecarribee Shire will have moved from nine elected, white, senior, middle-class males, to just one unelected, unrepresentative, white, senior, middle-class male.
Democracy will have died right before your eyes, in plain sight, and very few seem to care. And what about the new crop of candidates, including the overwhelming number of female hopefuls? They won't get a look in until 2024! That's democracy for yer!
This is how I see those who would usurp our democratic rights will word their rhetoric after August 11: the WSC has failed the community, particularly in the provision of services, good governance, engaging with the community, and, of course, financial management. Pretty good reasons for a public inquiry, right?
In case you didn't know, when Mr May was IA of the Armidale Regional Council, he recommended that the Minister proceed with a public inquiry prior to the conclusion of his extended term there in September 2020. The Minister replied, "No".
Shock, horror! The suspended councillors returned to their post, and are up for election on December 4. Armidale residents are relishing the opportunity to choose their candidate and toss out others as they see fit. Democracy...ain't it grand?
Let Wingecarribee vote!