I would like to preface my comments by saying that I value our right of freedom of speech; the following represents my personal opinions only and do not reflect the opinions of my fellow councillors or the official position of Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) in relation to the NSW government’s proposed amalgamation between TRC and Walcha Shire Council (WSC).
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As someone who has steadily and uniformly opposed the state government’s electricity and TAFE privatisation agenda in recent years for the detrimental effects on rural NSW, it would only be natural that I was dubious about the reasons for rationalisation of some local government areas around the state.
There is no doubt some are justified, but I fear that Mike Baird’s campaign against local government is arrogant and undemocratic.
For example, on the one hand his government is critical of councils that may spend ratepayer monies to fight an amalgamation, yet on the other hand, his government is spending millions of NSW taxpayer funds in advertising etc to justify forced amalgamations. Pot, kettle, black?
A Nationals MP and also former mayor of Bathurst is the Minister for Local Government; you would have thought he would understand the important role local councils play for the people and economy of rural NSW – but alas, he appears to have capitulated in favour of the economic rationalist policies of the Liberal Party.
It is quite clear that the Walcha community have expressed a desire to maintain their independence and autonomy, and I understand and value that aspiration.
The proposal to amalgamate TRC and WSC will indubitably result in diluted councillor representation for the Walcha people – as it did for Barraba, Manilla, Nundle and other smaller villages within the current TRC local government boundaries – as our local government area will not be divided into wards.
Walcha people are concerned that an amalgamation could potentially harm the psyche and local identity of a proud Walcha community.
Forced amalgamations have a tendency to result in staff redundancies affecting the local economy and potentially deliver higher executive salaries for larger councils.
The government has promised that if councils quietly accept the umpires’ decision, they will be rewarded with some incentives – $5 million per amalgamated council to undertake infrastructure repairs or staff redundancy payments. The funds wouldn’t take long to expend.
In my short time on council, it is pretty obvious that generally councils aren’t awash with a ready surplus of cash.
There are infrastructure backlogs within our current boundaries that are yet to be addressed since the 2004 amalgamation, let alone any existing legacy issues extant in WSC that would transfer to a larger TRC to deal with – and little desire by the state government to rectify those outstanding issues except the aforementioned amalgamation payments.
I was a long-term financial member of a political party from 1987 until the last couple of years, and I can say that if I have become cynical and indignant about the direction of major party politics in Australia, I can only imagine how the average voter feels.