Not sure what to make of Colin Barnett's statements reported in Perth Now (http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/premier-colin-barnett-answers-questions-from-perthnow-readers-in-coffee-with-colin/story-fnhocxo3-1226959972229)
On the subject of legal action over forced amalgamations, he is reported as saying: “Well I don’t know what the legal case would be because there have been no forced amalgamations so I don’t see how you can take that to court”. We'll see about that, Col.
He is also reported as saying: “At the moment, we’ve got close to 140 local councils across WA. Many have less than 500 residents – some cover less than 5sqkm. I think it’s time we moved into the 21st century".
Apart from Peppermint Grove, Mosman Park, Cottesloe and Claremont (and then only on the basis of area, not population), this is entirely about country councils - ironically, these western suburbs councils are in the only one of the Government's proposals that allows their electors to call a poll.
National Party Members of Parliament should be afraid - very afraid. If they don't support metropolitan communities in this fight, they will only have themselves to blame when Col Pot and Homer come down their way - see also http://ianrker-vincent.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/national-party-beware.html for Tony Simpson's threat along these lines.
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