Friday 20 November 2015
THE MIRROR
Folio 2/ Issue 2/ Page One
“Get stuffed” on everyone’s lips Comment by John Mitchell It started in the afterglow of the Melbourne Cup race with winning jockey Michelle Payne telling an interviewer that the male chauvinists who made it hard for female jockeys to get Cup rides can “get stuffed.” Palerang councillor Paul Cockram picked up the theme during debate of the State Government’s assessment that Palerang is not fit to stand alone, when he said, “I disagree with Cr Schweikert saying we can’t argue with the umpire. In current racing parlance, we can tell them to ‘get stuffed’. All the councillors present, apart from Cr Schweikert, agreed. Six days later Queanbeyan City Council voted to stand their ground and not agree to merge with any neighbouring Council. Cr Kenrick Winchester said, “We’ve got the gun held to our head and we’re blinking. We should tell [the State Government] to get stuffed. We need to stand up for the community,” he said. Queanbeyan Mayor Tim Overall unsuccessfully cautioned against a unilateral refusal. “I can’t support a motion that doesn’t give at least, some latitude. It’s detrimental to Queanbeyan and to the wider region in view of the merger that is likely to occur.” His preference was for Queanbeyan to take part, but not all, of Palerang. On the same evening, a 70 strong crowd at Goulburn considered three options for amalgamation. The strong sentiment of the meeting, “Tell the State Government to get stuffed,” was expressed many times from the floor. Goulburn-Mulwaree Mayor Geoff Kettle
dissented from the majority public view. “The Premier has told me standing alone is not an option. We are a creature of the State Government. We can be gone with the stroke of a pen. I am not going to cost this community the ability to plan its own future and have the State Government tell us how to do it.” Goulburn-Mulwaree councillors will consider their own position at a meeting to be held on 17 November. Their General Manager is recommending two options for mergers. The first is to amalgamate with Upper Lachlan and Yass Valley. The second is to add part of Palerang (including Nerriga, Braidwood, Bywong, Lake George and Wamboin) to the Upper Lachlan and Yass Valley amalgamation. Goulburn-Mulwaree Mayor Geoff Kettle’s remark, “We are a creature of the State Government. We can be gone with the stroke of a pen,” is at the heart of the issue. The State Government is determined to have the amalgamations, in spite of what the Councils and their ratepayers want, and despite an Upper House enquiry finding that the Government’s assessment of the Councils’ fitness for the future was deeply flawed. The likely result in our region will be the amalgamation of part of Palerang with Queanbeyan and part with Goulburn, Upper Lachlan and/or Yass. It was always going to be an uphill battle for Palerang to stand alone. While 53% of those polled supported the concept of an independent rural shire, that support was qualified. Many were unhappy with the way Palerang was being managed and
wanted change. The Council had the opportunity to make its case; to boast its strengths and acknowledge its weaknesses in its Fit for the Future submission to the State Government. Sadly the report described a Council without fault, also called Palerang, somewhere in a parallel universe. Palerang’s future viability, the report said, would be based on a special rate rise; improvements to its administration to provide a flatter, less expensive management structure; increased revenue through new subdivisions in Bungendore, and continuous review of its financial performance through a new independent Audit & Risk Committee. So far only the rate variation has seen the light of day. The new management structure first promised for early September, is yet to be seen, and the Audit & Risk Committee is yet to consider anything of consequence. Having failed to give credence to their claims for future sustainability, and continued to demand that they be allowed to stand alone, the Council has made it very easy for the State Government to say, “Get stuffed.” Also, in standing apart from the amalgamation process, they will lose the opportunity to have a significant say in the terms of any settlement, just as the old Tallaganda Shire did 12 years before. Moreover, asking the ratepayers to cough up a 40% increase in rates over the next five years, without explaining what else they are going to do to lift their performance, the Council can’t be surprised if the answer comes back, “Get stuffed.”