Letters
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What the punters think of the council candidates For the last 13 years I have served the community on council and I thank you for that honour. It has been a great privilege and I have been enriched by the experience, especially the opportunity to get to know so much about our wonderful shire and the community. It has not been without its challenges. When I was elected we had a huge debt of $7m and for seven years we struggled against the threats of amalgamation and dismissal but we got through it. I’ve done my best and with dedicated councillors we have balanced the needs of a diverse community, despite many difficulties including the state government’s control of the activities of local government. Now I feel proud that there is a strong mayoral candidate in Simon Richardson supported by a great Greens team who are committed to serving the shire. I hope that on election day the voters consider the important issues for our shire’s future – and again place their trust in people who understand and care about the biodiversity, the needs of the community and a balanced approach to development to protect the shire we love.
Q
Mayor Jan Barham
Broken Head Q Thank you to all those who have expressed their appreciation to me for my work as a councillor over the past four years. It’s really appreciated. You know who you are. From my experience as a councillor, if you want a mayor who is a safe pair of hands, a bridge builder, a good listener, inclusive, demonstrated full time and hard working across all council issues, provides an experienced, reasoned, progressive voice, then vote 1 Basil Cameron – the mayor for a council that works – and the Our Sustainable Future team.
Cr Patrick Morrisey
Goonengerry Q The
mystery surrounding the money behind the Woods/ Ibrahim campaign deepens. At the Suffolk Park meet the candidate Diane Woods revealed that she was funded by 80 benefactors known only to her husband. Sol Ibrahim has avoided the funding question whenever asked. Both campaigns share a Gold Coast PR firm and printer; both are lavishly financed. Important issues of probity are raised by this situation: If the donors are unknown to Woods, how can she be sure that money is not coming from sources, such as the Belongil interests, who are in legal conflict with council and calling
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for its dismissal? In order to avoid conflicts of interest it is incumbent on candidates to know and reveal who is funding them otherwise they can be compromised if elected. As official disclosure of donations is not made until well after the election, how are voters to know who they are really supporting if the candidates don’t tell them? For the record, the Greens have received less than $300 in donations and are otherwise completely funded by Richmond federal election per-vote money and local fundraisers. No money comes from wider party sources.
soon. Unlike our so-called Green council, Lismore has added a coal-seam gas mining referendum for a democratic insight of their shire. I am now aware of one Byron candidate who feels CSG mining in our area is good for bringing jobs to town! I thought how sad, narrowminded and lack of foresight for our future generations. For what it’s worth, I will include my decision in regard to CSG, though Byron Shire did not get organised to do so, as Lismore has. So slack! Dee Taminiau
Mullumbimby Q I’ve
known Basil Cameron
Cr Tom Tabart for over 20 years. In that time
Bangalow he has worked tirelessly to improve community life and wellQ Hugh’s defence of his OSF being on many levels. party claims that it’s there to I am in awe of his skills and ‘further the interests of the committment to this region. I local community’; one hopes believe he is best placed to be so but we also know that it’s a our next mayor. convenient way for candidates And a heartfelt thankyou to to put together a ticket, ie es- our outgoing mayor and counsentially to further their own cillors for your effort over the interests. years. A great deal of high-soundGood luck to you all. Nik Andronis ing rhetoric is being spouted by Mullumbimby council hopefuls as is the case each time round and it’s difficult to make choices when so Q Most people I speak to about many are relatively unknown. the upcoming council elections However, a few we do know are transfixed and angered by a and I believe their experience single issue, ie the state of the is valuable but we obviously potholed roads in our shire need to look carefully at their and it is this single issue that council records before re-elect- will decide their vote. The current mob they tell me will bear ing them. I have no difficulty in the brunt of their anger. Mine is word of caution. choosing Simon Richardson for mayor, not because he’s a Constitutionally local governGreen – although I basically ment is a branch of the state agree with Green values – but government and all shires because his performance on receive funds from state govCouncil has shown him to be ernment and sometimes the intelligent and fair-minded, federal government, but in the someone who listens to the case of the latter only through community and takes their the state government. The real reason that our concerns on board. Simon has assured us he will give up his roads are shot has little to do teaching job if he is elected with the outgoing council and which should reassure some everything to do with recent of his critics, myself included. and current state governments A final word of warning: we in NSW. They have allowed all have so far protected this Shire infrastructures to run down, from the excesses of develop- especially the roads; in fact it ment seen elsewhere, eg on is a nationwide problem. The the Gold Coast, and this has high rainfall, the one million sometimes taken us to court, plus annual influx of tourists which councillors don’t want combined with the inadequaany more than other ratepay- cies of the original drainage ers, despite the sort of criticism works exacerbate the problem being voiced yet again. Some of in Byron. The amount of funds our candidates are strong sup- required to bring our roads up porters of ‘business’ which can to scratch is enormous, a cool mean at the expense of other, $700 million as calculated by eg environmental values. I council administrators. Take a want a council which repre- drive through the surrounding sents the whole community, shires and you also experience not just one sector which can similar road conditions. It doesn’t matter who you be a greedy one. Jenny Coman vote for or what they promBangalow ise in regards to improve the condition of our roads. There Q Byron Greens Lismore also will be no improvement until have their council election continued on page 19 <echowebsection=Letters>
The Byron Shire Echo September 4, 2012 17