Don't Write Off Dadour Vote

Although the low local government election turnout might seem to be a danger for application of the Dadour provisions, I wouldn't be too disheartened. As I wrote here yesterday, there are many reasons why electors might have chosen not to vote. Some of these apply to the immediate situation of negativity towards local government and wouldn't necessarily apply to a Dadour vote where the issue is a long-term one.

There will be people (dare I say the silent majority) who are quite happy with their local government or, at the very least, prefer 'the devil they know' to 'the devil they don't'. There is so much uncertainty about the working of the forced-amalgamated councils - and the evidence is mounting that larger councils are not more efficient and are not well-regarded by their communities - that many will prefer the status quo.

It will, of course, be interesting to see how Colin Barnett interprets the weekend's voting. If he really believes that the changes are in the best interests of communities, he should be able to convince us and leave the Dadour provisions alone.