This is the personal blog of Ian Ker, who was Councillor for the South Ward of the Town of Vincent from 1995 to 2009. I have been a resident of this area since 1985. This blog was originally conceived as a way of letting residents of Vincent know what I have been doing and sharing thoughts on important issues. I can now use it to sound off about things that concern me.

If you want to contact me, my e-mail is still ian_ker@hotmail.com or post a comment on this blog.

To post a comment on this blog, select the individual post on which you wish to comment, by clicking on the title in the post or in the list to the left of the blog, and scroll down to the 'Post a Comment' box at the foot.

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Friday, February 13, 2015

Barnett's Lies - Or perhaps He Is Just Thick

In the item in WA Today (http://ianrker-vincent.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/cols-convenient-memory.html), Colin Barnett is quoted as saying "The case for amalgamations & mergers of local councils is overwhelming".

 He has never produced a skerrick of evidence to support this repeated claim. Minister, Tony Simpson, even went as far as to state (almost proudly) that he didn't have a business case for the grand plan for local government restructuring - and wouldn't try to develop one until 'after the decision was made'.

 On the other hand, Professor Brian Dollery, Director of the Centre for Local Government at the University of New England has found little or no evidence of 'bigger' being 'better' or 'more efficient' - in Australia or in other places where amalgamations have happened.

 One only has to look at Perth to see that, if anything, larger councils impose higher charges (rates and rubbish charges) than do smaller ones, although there is greater variation between smaller ones - http://ianrker-vincent.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/still-doesnt-add-up.html

 So how is it that no one in the media seems to challenge Barnett when he tells these porkies?
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2 comments:

  1. chris cornishFebruary 14, 2015 at 2:06 PM

    Hi Ian,
    I agree with you in a number of areas to do with reform; the process was not democratic (by only allowing some areas to have a vote) and the LGAB's decision for a 'no-ward system' would alienate residents and seriously impede effective representation. But I can't get past my belief that some of our LG's are too big (and overly bureaucratic and lacking in providing effective representation) and some too small (and can’t even have core positions in-house but must out-source to contractors). I find it interesting that whilst Prof Brian Dollery points out the shortfalls of amalgamations, he also offers numerous alternatives which implies there are deficiencies in the current system which need to be addressed. It is a pity that he didn’t (that I have found anyway) talk population numbers; when he refers to small, is that 15,000, 50,000 or 100,000 residents. When in QLD last year I made a point of seeing Noel Playford who was Mayor of Noosa before their amalgamations and then Mayor again during the recent de-amalgamations – I understand the disaster that was in terms of less services provided to Noosa residents and higher costs. Noosa has 50k residents; would the result be the same if there were only 15k?

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 14, 2015 at 11:07 PM

    ‘Lies or Just Thick” you say...That as well and everything in between.
    The damage done to this government is irreversible.

    ReplyDelete

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