Margot Giblin

Briscoe is right – Freeman is authoritative and it can only be assumed that he preferred to be seen to be opposing Briscoe’s proposal than to be smoothing the way for the trajectory on which Briscoe appears to be riding. The publicity surrounding this and other recent motions could be read as putting Briscoe in a position of strength if he were to declare, for instance, that he were standing for the position of Lord Mayor, not just alderman. Perhaps Freeman prefers the Lord Mayor he knows, the incumbent Rob Valentine.

Hobart City Council Open Portion of the Council Meeting
Monday 27.8.07

Councillors Present: Deputy Lord Mayor Eva Ruzicka (Chair), Jeff Briscoe, Peter Sexton, Ron Christie, Philip Cocker, Helen Burnet, John Freeman, Eric Hayes, Marti Zucco, Lyn Archer
Leave of Absence: Lord Mayor Rob Valentine, Darlene Haigh

Three Agenda Items

Delegation to Yaizu Japan – July 2007
It was suggested that following this delegation and ‘in order to maintain and enhance the civic and cultural links between the two cities’, the Council consider undertaking a visit to Yaizu at least once in every five years in the future.

As chair of the Community Development Committee Zucco introduced the motion saying that this was how to change the world and people, over the years. 30 years was a long time to be in a relationship with another country, especially when you consider what happened during the war. Fishing, he went on, had been another connection with Yaizu. Surprisingly, said Zucco, a couple of councillors on the trip did ask the question and were told that not many Japanese people eat whale meat.

The city of Yaizu, according to Zucco, has transformed itself from a fishing port to an economy based on a desalination plant which results in both bulk and individual flask size sales. It was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. Zucco flagged the possibility of us importing this water from Yaizu as well as the technology.

We get reports, he said, that these trips are junkets, but we can see how we’ve changed our views and they’ve changed theirs on us. Another proof of this was the trip to a supermarket six times as big as Myers Hobart Store.

(At this point a request made for extra time for this report was granted).

We had to take photos – not for our benefit, but for them, enthused Zucco. ‘Then we got to the beef section. Tasmanian beef. They had sent out flyers to 50,000 residents advertising this beef. I found it absolutely amazing. If anyone wants to ask if there are any benefits I say if anyone can last 30 years in a relationship there must be benefits. So no matter what others may think there is now a binding relationship and there should be a five yearly trip’.

It was unanimously agreed that there would be.

Brest, France – Proposal for Joint Exhibition Project and an Invitation to Visit Brest.
Coming from the Community Development Committee again, Zucco spoke to the recommendation, which was that the Lord Mayor of the day accept the invitation from the Lord Mayor of Brest to attend the 2008 maritime festival from 13-15 July 2008. Further, that the item be resubmitted to allow consideration of further aldermanic representation on the traveling party following finalization of the 2007 local government elections. Also, that the Council enter into discussions with Brest and organizers of the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in relation to a traveling exhibition relating to the French explorers who left Brest to explore Tasmania.

This could be an opportunity for more accusations against councilors in relation to junkets, said Zucco, ‘but this was not pushed by Council but by the Wooden Boat Festival’.

Freeman gave an alternate view in expressing his own interest in pursuing a Hobart – Brest relationship which dated from as early as 1977, saying that of all cities outside England this was the one we should be thinking about. We have, said Freeman, an enormous amount in common. In urging the invitation to be expanded to allow other aldermen to travel with the Lord Mayor Freeman said that by then his own time would be almost over. Presumably he meant as a councilor. Freeman concluded by saying that while other sister city relationships had much to recommend them Brest in particular would have enormous appeal to Hobartians. Those voting on the recommendation were unanimous in agreeing.

Proposed Elector Poll – Pulp Mill
At an estimated cost of $17,000 (50 cents per elector) it was proposed that the opinion of electors in the Hobart municipal area to the proposed Tamar Valley Pulp Mill be sought in a poll to be conducted by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission in conjunction with the 2007 local government elections.

This was Briscoe’s proposal and in speaking to it he said his motive was that many people were disturbed by the process for assessing the pulp mill to date and that they felt disenfranchised. Further he felt it important to establish how people felt about Parliament being asked to give a Yes/No decision when other bodies, such as the Council, had to go through such exhaustive processes in assessing applications before it. A poll, he felt, would give Council real information – not a view from a newspaper commentator, not an opinion poll, but real information.

Zucco stressed that in supporting Briscoe’s proposal he was not speaking for or against the mill but against the assessment process. In an uncharacteristically generous comment on media coverage he felt that sometimes things were left out because of lack of space. He would therefore like a letter sent to every minister in both the lower and upper houses and to Malcolm Turnbull by the Lord Mayor ‘so that they get every word of what we are doing’.

All other aldermen supported Briscoe’s proposal in debate bar Freeman who wanted it altered so that a poll would be held only if a decision on the mill had not been made by October 1. Council’s position, he felt, was similar to that presented in the Peter Sellers movie The Mouse That Roared. Among Freeman’s comments were: ‘It will cost a lot, and it’s meaningless’.
‘It’s a high point in stupidity’. ‘We’re making fools of ourselves’. ‘We should simply say that we don’t agree with the process, the type of mill and the location’.

Zucco’s attempt to bring together the contrary views of Freeman and Briscoe on how this matter should be dealt with were to no avail. Freeman’s wish to add his suggestions to the motion foundered because they were contrary and would require a second motion. Briscoe resisted this, holding out for his original proposal which Freeman continued to maintain was of questionable value despite delivering individual councilors the ‘warm inner glow’ of Keating fame.

‘You are very authoritative, I’ve seen you sway the debate, you can persuade and speak calmly using terms like ‘warm inner glow’, responded Briscoe who then urged that emotion be kept out of the debate which was about wanting real information through the poll.
And so his original motion stood and was passed.

Given that Briscoe and Freeman have known each others views at least since the last open meeting it was interesting that no attempt had been made in the intervening fortnight to find common ground and present a strong motion which covered all concerns.

Briscoe is right – Freeman is authoritative and it can only be assumed that he preferred to be seen to be opposing Briscoe’s proposal than to be smoothing the way for the trajectory on which Briscoe appears to be riding. The publicity surrounding this and other recent motions could be read as putting Briscoe in a position of strength if he were to declare, for instance, that he were standing for the position of Lord Mayor, not just alderman. Perhaps Freeman prefers the Lord Mayor he knows, the incumbent Rob Valentine.