Encouraging…But Needs To Be Kept Going

Early returns in the local government amalgamation polls are encouraging (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1526457524303125) - but it will still be tough to get to the required 50%.

Kwinana looks really good (more than halfway there!), demonstrating the value of Council and community working together (http://ianrker-vincent.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/kwinana-council-and-community-fight-for.html).

If you haven't yet voted, please do so as soon as you can - it's all too easy to put off doing so until it's too late. Remember, returned voting packages have to be delivered by 7th February, so try to post by Wednesday 4th to be sure Australia Post delivers. 

Whether you have yet voted or not, please encourage friends and family to vote.

http://www.elections.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/documents/Returned%20Mail%2021012015.pdf

Kwinana Council And Community Fight For Future

Good to see Kwinana Council and the Kwinana Community joining the fight together.

Communication, Complications and Costs

Expect to see a lot more of this in the next six months. Lots of energy and goodwill being expended on unnecessary change.

Canning Times, 20th January 2015

Irreconcilable Differences Means Divorce Not Wedding

"The City of Vincent will release its own document on the City of Perth Act, contradicting many of the City of Perth's proposed reforms."

With so many fundamental points of difference, not the least being the gerrymander or vote-weighting, why would anyone think a marriage between Perth and Vincent was even possible, let alone a good idea.

Sounds more like recipe for divorce than marriage.

Vital That You Vote If You Have The Opportunity

Most of us don't get the chance to vote on the local government so-called reform of Barnett and Simpson.

For those fortunate few who have the opportunity to vote on the future of their local government (South Perth, Victoria Park, Kwinana, Cockburn, East Fremantle), it is vital for democracy that you vote, whether you are for or against amalgamation. If you don't exercise your right to vote, you will be in danger of losing that right for all of us in the future.

Two adverts in the Southern Gazette. Good to see Victoria Park and South Perth Councils both urging people to vote, but one might have hoped that they would provide some information or guidance to electors. Instead, that's left to theCity of South Perth Residents' Association.

Still, on balance, the two adverts complement each other well and are highly visible in the newspaper. Now we have to hope that the power of advertising is what the marketers claim it to be.

Here We Go Again … Again

Lest anyone be in any doubt that property development was behind the thrust for local government so-called reform in Perth, just have a look at the latest call from the Property Council in South Australia.

The Council presents no evidence other than the fact that change/amalgamation is happening elsewhere. The fact that no evidence has been presented to support those changes where they are happening - and that real evidence shows amalgamation to be problematic at best - doesn't get a mention.

It is very telling that the SA Director of the Property Council feels the need to deny that "there was any personal gain for the industries represented" - his coalition includes the unlikely partners of the Australian Hotels Association and the shop workers union as well as the more obviously-aligned Master Builders Association. Methinks he doth protest too much - to slightly misquote the Bard.

But the approving reference to a long list of changes, elsewhere as well as in South Australia in 1997, prompts the observation that the interests of property developers lie not only in larger local governments and more uniform rules but in continual change. 

We all know that developers invariably ask for more than the planning rules allow. When there is major change, there is also confusion and uncertainty and a period during which the application of existing rules may be unclear. This provides the opportunity to get approvals for over-development despite the best intentions of Councils - as elected members are having to cope with massive internal/administration/policy change and have less ability to pay close attention to 'external' matters such as development approvals.

Takes One To Know One…

…but, given that it does take one to know one, we should take seriously NSW media shock-jock Alan Jones description of Queensland Premier Campbell Newman as a bully.

While we're about it, we might ponder Jones' description of Newman's government as "as bad as anything we've ever seen in government in Australia anywhere".

Jones is most notorious for his attacks on the Gillard Labor Government, but now (perhaps lacking Labor government targets) seems to be turning on the right wing of politics. 

Jones says: "Our debt is worse than it was when Newman came into government … and he's done nothing about the debt he said he would address".

Sound familiar? - not to mention the bullying.

Perhaps we should invite Alan Jones to WA and ask him about the Barnett Government.

As in Queensland, So Also In WA

Dr Chris Davis, former LNP Minister in Queensland, tell it like it is. He talks of sociopaths, broken trust, betrayal and winding back of public scrutiny. He said that, under the current Premier, Queensland had suffered losses in all three pillars of its democracy - parliament, public service and judiciary.

In the video, he talks of the importance of trust to good governance and says that in his opinion you cannot trust this government.

The same can be said of Western Australia under Barnett.

Barnett has ignored three resolutions of Parliament condemning forced local government amalgamations.

Barnett has further politicised the public service. He and Ministers have criticised senior public servants for their own failings. Barnett has ignored blatant conflicts of interest in the hope that they will pass unnoticed - and when they are noticed he disingenuously says they didn't influence decisions.

Barnett left the Supreme Court of WA one judge short for months - and then filled the post with a government employee.

Barnett appointed a State Governor one of whose first acts was to sign Governor's Orders on local government changes that were still the subject of action in the courts.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/17/former-lnp-minister-launches-scathing-attack-on-newman-government

Getting The Message Out

These will appear in South Perth soon. 

Look out for them, mention them to family and friends and, above all, VOTE.

More banners for Subiaco.

No Vote, No Say, No Good

Love this Twitter post. The denial of a democratic vote to the people of Subiaco (and Cambridge, come to that) makes it all the more important that those who do get the opportunity to vote actually do so.

So come on all you electors of South Perth, Victoria Park, Kwinana, Cockburn and East Fremantle exercise your democratic rights and take just a few minutes to fill in and return your ballot papers by 7th February.

As they say, "Use it or lose it". Democracy is under real threat here.

I've Seen The Future, Brother, It Is Murder.

West Australian, 14th January 2015

Leonard Cohen said it truly when he wrote: "I've Seen The Future, Brother, It Is Murder".

Kim Hack (Letters, West Australian, 14th January - see right) rightly bemoans the sacking of the York Council just when a new Council was starting to perform well.

The sacking of York Council has nothing to do with its actual performance (except as an excuse) but has everything to do with Barnett and Simpson getting a foot in the door to start forcing local government amalgamations in country WA. The writer is right on the mark in calling it bullying and suspecting a 'hidden agenda of forced amalgamation'. 

As I have written here previously (http://ianrker-vincent.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/and-so-it-continues.html), we should not be surprised if (when?) Simpson proposes a 'boundary adjustment' to make York and Beverly one local government. He'd really like to do more than that (include Northam and Brookton?) but to do so would unequivocally trigger a poll that he'd be very likely to lose.

So, again, I plead with the Nationals and Liberals with principles and respect for democracy to oppose forced amalgamations anywhere in WA, including the despicable City of Perth Act with its outrageous gerrymander.

Subiaco Shafted

West Australian, 14th January 2015

Bruce Mackintosh rightly draws attention to Subiaco's being denied access to a poll, even though the Cambridge-Subiaco proposal is essentially the same as the South Perth - Victoria Park one which does trigger a poll.

Well, Bruce, that's the duplicity of Simpson and Barnett for you.

Makes it all the more important that those who do have the opportunity do express their disgust at the way unwanted and unnecessary changes are being foisted on them - in South Perth, Victoria Park, Cockburn, Kwinana and East Fremantle.

The other letters, responding to letters from Cecilia Brooke and Peter Howat are breathtaking in their naivety.

M E Andrijich simply asserts that efficiency of South Perth can be taken into the larger amalgamated city, ignoring the cost and disruption the change will inevitably cause to those existing efficient processes. In any case, history and evidence from other forced amalgamations do not support the argument.

Ross MacDonald simply asserts that the amalgamated Council could function from multiple sites especially with the use of electronic linkages. He has obviously not studied the history of the 'paperless office' and 'virtual meetings'. Information and communications technology has simply led to more exchanges of information between more people - most of which are printed off multiple times.

Similarly, it was once expected that the telephone would reduce the need for face to face meetings - but one of its main effects was to make arranging face to face meetings easier - so we had more rather than fewer meetings. Outlook and similar electronic diary software simply makes it easier to arrange meetings rather than substituting for face to face meetings - and many such meetings in his scenario would involve travel between two or more locations.

And the experience of the WA Government in trying to establish a 'shared services' regime in the public service is hardly cause for optimism, either.

South Perth People Getting The Message Out

West Australian, 12th January 2015

Two letters in the West in two days. South Perth people are cranking up the 'No' campaign. Keep up the good work.

West Australian, 13th January 2015

Vincent Does NOT Want To Be Part Of Perth

Perth Voice, 10th January 2015 http://www.perthvoice.com/voicew

As stated previously on this blog (http://ianrker-vincent.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/what-part-of-no-doesnt-barnett.html), the Vincent community does not want to be part of Perth, even when it had the expectation that being so would be on a fair and equitable basis.

With Col's proposed gerrymander, I doubt any Vincent resident or ratepayer wants union with Perth.

The West Australian didn't publish this letter, despite its being in response to an article in that newspaper, but the Perth Voice has finally woken from its post-Christmas slumber to publish it a couple of weeks after it was submitted.

Just a gentle dig, folks.

The Voice Gets There First

Perth Voice, 10th January 2015 http://www.perthvoice.com/voicew

It has taken two weeks for the first media mention (that I am aware of) of Homer's cynical last-minute pre-Christmas 'gift' (gazetting of Governor's Orders on forced local government 'boundary adjustments' - posted here on the very day it happened (http://ianrker-vincent.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/bah-humbug-homers-christmas-present-to.html).

The Voice acknowledges that it was either 'deeply distracted' or 'on holiday', which is just what Col Pot and Homer were banking on.

It seems to me, though, that the media have been asleep at the wheel - they should have been alert to this possibility and it would hardly take detailed investigative reporting to turn this into a strong story of political cynicism.

Doesn't even need to be that. There is legitimate public interest in the gazettal, which affects the majority of people in the Perth Metropolitan Area.

Still Doesn't Add Up

A while ago, I posted data here showing that larger councils in WA did not have lower charges - and, if anything, levied higher chargers on property owners (http://ianrker-vincent.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/follow-rest-like-lemmings.html).

Looking more closely at that data, in terms of the variation from the mean, poses some interesting questions about the basis for the proposed amalgamations or boundary adjustments.

The four local governments with the highest charges (Serpentine-Jarrahdale (+36%); Mundaring (+27%); Armadale (+27%); Swan (+24%) are all outer-eastern, semi-rural areas, which suggests that some common factor in their shared situation is responsible for the high charges. Yet it is proposed that they merge with each other (Swan/Mundaring and Armadale/(part of) Serpentine-Jarrahdale), which will do absolutely nothing to address this shared disadvantage.

Of the three local governments left unchanged (Wanneroo (+19%); Rockingham (+9%); Joondalup (-8%)), two are within what might be described as a central band, but Wanneroo (+19%) is the sixth highest charging local government in the Perth Metropolitan Area.

Why is Kwinana (+19%) chosen to be the 'continuing council' taking over most of the better-performing City of Cockburn (+5%)?

Why is Cambridge (0%) chosen to be the 'continuing council' taking over the better-performing City of Subiaco (-9%)?

Why is Gosnells (-3%) chosen to be the 'continuing council' taking over most of the better-performing City of Canning (-26%)?

Why are five western suburbs Councils (Cottesloe (-20%); Claremont (-20%); Nedlands (-10%); Peppermint Grove (-5%); Mosman Park (-1%)) to be amalgamated when they all have lower charges than the mean for the Perth Metropolitan Area?

Why is the City of Vincent (-12%) to be taken over by the City of Perth, when it performs substantially better than the mean for the Perth Metropolitan Area? Although the City of Perth appears to do better, it currently subsidises residential rates substantially so, in reality, is unlikely to be much (if any) better than Vincent.

Why is the City of Stirling to be reduced in size when it is the sixth-best performing council?

And just to add weight to the argument, the average population of those local governments with charges above the mean is 76,200. The average population of those with charges below the mean is 56,800.

Where, I ask yet again, is the evidence for economies of scale.

And So It Continues…

Homer has suspended the Council of the Shire of York - for what might or might not be good reasons - I'm not familiar enough with the circumstances.

However, we should not be surprised if (when?) Simpson proposes a 'boundary adjustment' to make York and Beverly one local government. He'd really like to do more than that (include Northam and Brookton?) but to do so would unequivocally trigger a poll that he'd be very likely to lose.

And 6 months, of course, will be extended until the amalgamation that isn't an amalgamation is complete - as the City of Canning experience demonstrates.

So, Nationals, here is the start of what we all knew was coming. Please stick to your guns and oppose forced amalgamations anywhere in WA, including the despicable City of Perth Act with its outrageous gerrymander.

From The 'Horse's Mouth'

WALGA Western Councillor

At last, WALGA appears to be taking note of the experience with previous amalgamations in WA and elsewhere.

Greater Geraldton CEO, Ken Diehm, has seen it all here and in Queensland. He said:
- The cost of the Geraldton amalgamation was $12.4 million
- Claims that amalgamations deliver efficiencies brought community expectations for lower rates which were often unfounded.

Even WALGA President, Troy Pickard, often an apologist for the Government's so-called reform, said that the "State Government needs to avoid creating false expectations of significant price reductions for ratepayers … because there is no evidence to support that proposition".

Just what we've been saying just that here for months.

Here We Go - Again

I've said it before on this blog that Barnett's standard modus operandi is to do what he wants and put pressure on others to fall into line. Well, here he is again, doing just that - telling the Nationals that local government so-called reform in Perth is none of their business.

I always understood that all members of parliament, as well as representing their own electorate and electors, were also responsible for the good governance of the State of Western Australia - just as local councillors, elected to represent a ward (part of a local government), are required by the Local Government Act to act in the best interests of the local government as a whole.

It is, therefore, entirely appropriate for the National Party to take a principled stand on local government in Perth, even without the clearly-stated threat by Barnett and Simpson that regional WA is next for the same treatment.

So, all credit to Terry Redman, Leader of the Nationals in the Parliament, for restating his party's opposition to "anything that results in forced amalgamations" as a matter of principle.

It's heartening to know that some in Parliament still recognise the value and importance of principles.

Nailed It, Kate

Kate Emery is spot on in her analysis of the unseemly haste towards a City of Perth Act, much of which echoes what has been posted on this blog.

In fact, given the firmly-expressed views of the Opposition and the Nationals on the matter (not to mention disquiet in his own party ranks), there are only two possible 'explanations':

One is that Barnett knows he will lose this one and wants his defeat out of the way as long before the 2017 election as possible.

The other is that he hopes to find some means of 'persuading' the Nationals to back down in their opposition (at least to the extent of abstaining) - and the speed is to give the Nationals' voters time to 'forget and forgive' before the 2017 election. As I posted here after Barnett's performance on the ABC News that day:
Barnett, on the ABC 7pm News, when asked how he hoped to get his Act passed, said "Power of persuasion. Watch this space". Those of us who have observed his tactics throughout this process know that means he will try to bully opponents into supporting him.

The West Australian, 3rd February 2015

Interesting that there has still been no reporting of the Governor's Orders gazetted at 11.30am on 24th December. Has the media been asleep at the wheel?