A perversion of the integrity of process

In originally requesting a review by the Local Government Board of the issues invoved in a potential amalgamation of the BreakO’Day and Glamorgan Spring Bay Councils, a key condition was that there would be “extensive community consultation” .

However, the review by the Board is moving to its conclusion after electors were only provided with “reasonable opportunity for public consultation” (Local Government Act 1993 214C) – so reasonable that only one submission was made at the St Helens Public meeting and nobody made an appointment to be heard at the Bicheno meetings, and less than 30 written submissions from individual electors were received by the Board, and the General Manager of the Break O’Day commented in the Council Newsletter “Sunrise” that the disappointing number of submissions may suggest that the Councils and the Board failed to adequately publicise the consultation process.

A motion was submitted ( by me) for the Council Meeting of the Break O’Day Council on 12th October. The motion proposed a consultation process between Council and electors to discuss the report of the Local Government Board when it was forwarded to Council, so that Council,the elected members of the community, could received the informed views of electors before making a decision on their behalf about proceeding or withdrawing from an amalgamation process. The report by the Board is the end of the review process- electors should now be able to discuss the report as part of the “extensive consultation process” required when this hare started to run.The Mayor refused to include the motion in the Agenda, declaring it to be illegal!

So, we have a Minister for Local Government not allowing elections for Councillors in the Break O’Day and Glamorgan Spring Bay because he does not want a proposal to amalgamate them to be an election issue- we have a Mayor, who was involved in secret discussions with the same Minister to start off the amalgamation process ,and has stated on the record that “it is better to jump than be pushed”, now refusing to allow the community to discuss the results of that process before a decision is made- the same person who declared in his submission to the Board (posted as a public document on the Local Government Board web site) “I am of the opinion that a practical outlook with a timely outcome for this venture can be achieved fairly quickly rather than a laborious navel searching exercise with unnecessary time being wasted on trivial matters and what if scenarios that only delay the same end result”.

This whole process seems to reek of done deals . Whose interests are being served by an amalgamation? The communities of Break O’Day and Glamorgan Spring Bay, or the agenda of the Sir Humphreys in Hobart eager to reduce the number of local forums for dissent against their self serving advice to Ministers? or the agenda of a Minister due to retire in March, a member of a Government with a public policy of being opposed to compulsory amalgamation of councils but who welcomes with open arms a couple of Councils prepared to voluntarily commit suicide and start a domino process, a Minister who issued a media statement in which he annointed his fellow travellers “I particularly commend the mayors of the two councils, Mayor Legge and Mayor Cadart for their vision and leadership”.

My complaint to the Local Government Division about the refusal to accept the motion, was subject to the usual circular consultation and Pontius Pilate treatment , from a person signing himself “Director of Local Government, advising me that “I have sought advice from the Council …and I am unable to intervene” Don’t you love those motherhood words in the Local Government Act about accountability and communication between Councils and their communities.

If corruption were to be defined as ” a perversion of the integrity of process”, where might this scenario rate on a scale of 0-10 ?

David Clement
Councillor Break O’Day Council