THE TWEED
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Volume 2 #28 Thursday, March 25, 2010 Advertising and news enquiries: Phone: (02) 6672 2280 Fax: (02) 6672 4933 editor@tweedecho.com.au adcopy@tweedecho.com.au www.tweedecho.com.au
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LOCAL & INDEPENDENT
Council warns critics to tone it down Luis Feliu
A crackdown by Tweed Shire Council on speakers at its monthly community access sessions has been slammed as an attempt to stifle criticism and free speech. Council has drawn flak for the move by its corporate governance officer to write letters to three speakers from the last access session, warning them about making any future ‘derogatory remarks’ or allegations during their presentations. The move follows recent attempts to limit the Greens councillor Katie Milne’s speeches in council meetings down to three minutes, a move which spectacularly backfired when it was found to be illegal (see story page 3).
Meant to intimidate? The community access speakers, regular critics of council on environmental issues, reject the claim they’ve been derogatory of councillors or staff and fear the letters were meant to intimidate them from further criticism and curb their freedom of expression. But council’s corporate governance and public officer, Neil Baldwin, said he was only trying to make the speakers ‘who have been there a number of times’ aware of the ‘requirements’ of council’s code of meeting practice and to what was or wasn’t acceptable. Uki resident Menkit Prince said she was shocked to receive the letter saying ‘council must be getting sick of hearing us, it seems they are really clamping down on our freedom of expression’. The environmental campaigner said she may have upset councillors by her passionate speech pleading for biodiversity protection and sustainable practices but didn’t think there was anything wrong with the criticism.
‘I have heard far worse things being said to councillors at community access in the past. I find this clamp down very mysterious. Are Tweed councillors incapable of reflection on their performance? Are they completely closed to what the community is thinking and feeling?’ she said. ‘At the end of last year, council banned signs, masks and angry outbursts from the gallery audience. Now they are banning free speech at community access. It follows on from their blackout media policy where councillors can be censured for releasing information that is not already in the public domain, especially if it does not make them look good.’ Mr Baldwin told The Echo he had not been under any direction from councillors or the general manager for the move. He said it was not a ‘strange departure’ from normal business practice to make speakers at access sessions and workshops aware of the requirements but agreed it was the first time such warning letters had been sent out. Previously at access sessions, the mayor has pulled up speakers if he thought they were going too far or being offensive. Mr Baldwin said there were ‘aspects’ of the speakers’ presentations which were unacceptable and that it would have been ‘awkward’ to stop them while they were ‘making their point’. The speakers were thus warned by letter not to make further ‘allegations that any resident, member of council staff, councillor or other person has acted improperly’. ‘In my role as public officer I have to be fair to everyone to ensure proper process is followed,’ he said. Team Koala campaigner Jenny Hayes told media that a letter she received had made her ‘too scared to get up and talk again’ at access meetings.
Prize hunters steal the show
Rosemary Mayhew, of Currumbin, with her Weimeraners (a breed of German hunting dog), Page, Clint and Gigi, at the Tweed River Canine Club’s annual show at Murwillumbah Showground last weekend. Rosemary said she was thrilled with Page winning best-bitch prize and the two puppies Clint and Gigi winning their class in their very first show. More than 700 people and their dogs attended the show, believed to be a record crowd. Photo Jeff ‘Howler’ Dawson
Tweed Tourism and TEDC up for tender The work carried out by the Tweed’s ratepayer-funded tourism and economic development groups will be opened up to commercial competition after a Tweed Council decision last week. The two organisations, Tweed Tourism, which runs the shire’s two visitor-information centres employing scores of volunteers at Murwillumbah and Tweed Heads, and the Tweed Economic Development Corporation (TEDC), have received annual council funding to the tune of over $400,000 each. A call last year to combine the two groups and save funding was scuttled by a majority of councillors.
Last Tuesday, council voted unanimously to adopt the staff recommendation for tenders to be called for the work done by both groups, following legal advice as a result of a recent review of both groups, which concluded it was mandatory to invite tenders for the delivery of tourism and economic development services. Several councillors sit on the two groups’ boards and concern was also raised this week that if the two groups now wanted to tender for those services, they could be legally blocked because of conflict of interest rules. Mayor Warren Polglase said councillors on the boards of the two groups would have to step down as
a result of the legal advice. The review, undertaken by the Centre for Local Government at the University of Technology, Sydney, said there were advantages of council assuming a more active role in setting the vision and strategic direction of tourism promotion and economic development. It also said that by tightening up accountability and probity requirements in a new contractual arrangement, council would go a long way in addressing issues such as transparency. ‘The same level of scrutiny and engagement is not required of corporations to deliver what is a core function of council,’ the report said.
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