Another one bites the dust - but will Simpson keep him on?

I don't know whether Mel Congerton was a good councillor for City of Swan, but he certainly compromised the independence of the Local Government Advisory Board in the local government so-called reform process.

The question is whether Local Government Minister, Tony Simpson, will keep him as Chair of the LGAB now that he has been defeated by the now-youngest councillor in the Metropolitan area. Under the Local Government Act, the Minister's nomination to the LGAB, who is required to be the Chair of the board, is not required to be an elected member of a local government.

And will WALGA have a view on this?

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/29853911/younger-faces-take-places-on-councils

Totally predictable - but real culprit is NSW state government

Essentially same story as in WA - but equally flawed.

So-called independent report - but conclusions inevitable given years of rate-capping and cost-shifting by NSW state governments.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-20/most-nsw-councils-not-fit-for-future-ipart-finds/6868348

First Brick Falls Out of the City of Perth Wall

Local Government Minister, Tony Simpson, acts to prevent Lord Mayor guilty of misconduct from judging others accused of misconduct. No-brainer, but good to see.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-13/perth-lord-mayor-removed-from-local-government-standards-panel/6851386

Is Time Running Out for Out-Of-Touch Perth City Council?

It's getting increasingly difficult to see how the City of Perth Council can emerge unscathed and functioning after these revelations.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-12/review-of-perth-city-council-may-be-needed-minister/6847238

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/29788660/state-government-to-review-perth-city-council

As in WA, so in NSW - and so the sorry saga continues

Needs no commentary from me (at least for those in WA who have already been through this - and won, thanks to people power).

A few quotes suffice to show that state government try the same tricks wherever you are.

NSW councils have long argued that rate-pegging, cost-shifting and freezing the indexation of Financial Assistance Grants have constrained their revenues, while simultaneously slugging them with bigger bills for infrastructure and services.

He said that the state government had not provided good evidence mergers would benefit councils financially, apart from promising access to cheaper loans, which would still need to be repaid.

The Minister is being incredibly duplicitous: using a longstanding funding problem as cover for an ideologically-driven move to increase control over local communities and neighbourhoods.

And it isn't even in the interests of the party of Government:

State Premier Mike Baird’s amalgamation drive is causing all sorts of problems for Liberal MPs, who fear a backlash from the branches that elected them and from the general public.

http://www.governmentnews.com.au/2015/10/council-peak-body-gives-nsw-government-minister-a-serve

Transparency and Integrity in City of Perth

Reece Harley either knew something was in the wind - or he should go out and buy a lottery ticket, for his decision to campaign on transparency and integrity is paying-off big-time - particularly now Deputy Lord Mayor, Rob Butler, has been caught in the non-disclosure net (http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/deputy-lord-mayor-of-perth-rob-butler-fails-to-declare-trip-to-malaysia/news-story/c40b9303dff3c2fbe9e9c612fb54e4d8) and the other seven City of Perth councillors (other than Reece Harley) have publicly fallen in behind the Lord Mayor who is under a personal cloud.

And for those who missed it on Thursday, here (at foot of this post) is Daniel Emerson's forensic analysis of the issue and the Lord Mayor's responses to the Crime and Corruption Commission's findings.

http://www.reeceharleyforperth.com.au/media. Click to enlarge.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/29756163/scaffidi-wins-obfuscation-gold

Strange Day - Now I Agree With Simpson

Regular and long-time readers of this blog will be aware that I have a long-running and fundamental difference of view with both Premier Colin Barnett and Local Government Minister, Tony Simpson, on local government matters. So it is with some trepidation that I follow my agreement earlier today with Col (http://ianrker-vincent.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/i-agree-with-col-pity-col-doesnt.html) with an agreement with Tony Simpson.

According to the ABC (below): 

Local Government Minister Tony Simpson stopped short of saying Ms Scaffidi should resign, but said a member of Cabinet who acted in the same way would be sacked.

The ABC also reported that:

Mr Simpson flagged changes to annual returns in the local government sector including that they be lodged more frequently and be made more accessible to the public.

I agree, but it is only a couple of months since local governments refused to take an opportunity to support doing just that (http://ianrker-vincent.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/rocks-in-their-heads.html), so local councils will now be on the back foot and the Minister has the high moral ground.

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-07/lord-mayor-scaffidi-unable-to-release-in-information-defence/6833886

I Agree With Col. Pity Col Doesn't!

Paul Murray thinks that the CCC findings about Lisa Scaffidi are nothing more than a technicality. Premier Colin Barnett says her actions represented "a poor decision exacerbated by the failure to disclose it".

For once, I agree with Col - the CCC findings are of significant concern in terms of the integrity of government (http://ianrker-vincent.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/transparency-anyone.html).

But there's a certain cognitive dissonance in Colin Barnett's response to the CCC findings

But this should be equally so at all levels of government. Indeed, Barnett himself reported said that "if one of his ministers had behaved in this way he would probably look at resignation"

It is not good enough for him to criticise Lisa Scaffidi (local government) and Bronwyn Bishop (federal government) by evoking the 'pub test'. He must apply the same criterion to his own government - and Dean Nalder in particular.

West Australian, 7th October 2015. Click to enlarge.

West Australian, 7th October 2015. Click to enlarge.

Transparency, Anyone?

The City of Vincent Mayor, John Carey, has been subject to criticism for his calls for greater transparency in local government, including the suggestion of publicly-available registers of contacts with developers (see http://ianrker-vincent.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/rocks-in-their-heads.html).

How delightfully ironic (not to mention illuminating), therefore, to see a letter from City of Perth Councillor, James Limnios, criticising Lord Mayoral candidate, Reece Harley, for emphasising the importance of transparency, on the same day as the Crime and Corruption Commission makes serious adverse findings against current Lord Mayor, Lisa Scaffidi.  (https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/29723044/lisa-scaffidi-failed-to-declare-gifts-travel-ccc; http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-06/perth-mayors-beijing-olympics-trip-with-bhp-unwise-barnett-says/6830684; http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/perth-lord-mayor-lisa-scaffidi-signally-failed-in-duties-corruption-and-crime-commission/story-fnhocxo3-1227557825976?sv=db7d3f447044c1010f885e64ef91dd9e&utm_source=Perth%20Now&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial).

Councillor Limnios apparently considers that 'minor individual councillor expenses' are 'frivolous matters'. He obviously fails to see the intrinsic relationship between honesty and integrity in small matters and in large ones. 

Lord Mayor, Lisa Scaffidi, meanwhile, evokes a distinct sense of deja entendu in blaming inexperience and the advice of officials ("I was a brand new Lord Mayor and I was entitled to rely on the guidance offered by people far more experienced than me in terms of governance" - https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/29725980/premier-weighs-into-scaffidi-scandal) - conveniently ignoring the fact that she had been a City of Perth Councillor for two terms prior to that.

She also appears to claim the Bronwyn Bishop defence that if found out it is sufficient to apologise. I doubt that any legal system acknowledges that as a valid defence. Bronwyn did, to her credit, repay the money (albeit reluctantly).

Even Premier, Colin Barnett, reportedly has said that "if one of his ministers had behaved in this way he would probably look at resignation"(https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/29725980/lord-mayor-digs-in-over-ccc-findings).

West Australian, 6th October, 2015