-
Aged care
facility.
I will
ensure a piece of land is put aside for the
provision for our elderly and the preliminaries are
got under way for this important community need.
-
Water
cost.
We are the
only town in WA to my knowledge with two water
meters. The bore water should be free. I will seek
an on-going State subsidy for this problem and put
the wheels in motion for the pursuit of
alternatives.
-
-
Development.
A
town dies without development. But if we're to
retain the appeal that brought us here in the first
place, we must exercise good stewardship of our
pristine environment and basically crime free
situation. Then the quality of the life-style that
attracted us to come and live here, will remain.
The vast majority of this community did not want
what would have been a satellite town (Denham Quays)
on our seafront. Although I spearheaded that long,
and costly, fight against it, I am not against
development, I personally signed the letter to the
developer saying we would give him our every support
if it was mainland based.
-
-
Gunson
Mining
I did all I
could as a private individual with just one
broadsheet newspaper to promote the $60 million
venture of Gunsons Mining. The Shire made for all
manner of difficulties despite every environmental
requirement being met. Gunsons will still go ahead
in spite of our Councillors. This is a project,
well out of sight, sound and smell of our community
yet with all the potential to create employment for
locals and an influx of young families. I will
naturally continue to give that venture my full
support.
-
-
Recycling
We should build the natural resource of our wind
power by creating a facility for handling the
recyclable tons of paper, cardboard, glass, plastic
that we presently throw away.
-
-
Our
Image
We have
possibly the most attractive locality on the West
Australian coastline. I believe we could become the
most attractive town in the whole of Australia if we
could develop a reputation as a most friendly,
welcoming and courteous town. This is a personal
goal that I believe can happen with the community's
support.
-
-
The
mobile dentist
A yearly
visit by the dentist is totally inadequate I
will pursue doubling this
And now for some issues of considerable
concern..................Your
freedom of speech is being jeopardised and it's costing
our community dearly.
We have three
tiers of government in Australia - Local, State and
Federal. At State and Federal level there is formal
provision for opposing views through opposition parties.
A healthy opposition is crucial to good government
because their ever watchful eye keeps the governing
party honest. Freedom of speech for opposing views is
one of the key principles of democracy
At local
government (Council) level there is no formal provision
for opposing views. So opposing views must be expressed
via community groups such as a Ratepayers or Progress
Association, or by individuals. Lone individuals can
find the going particularly tough when it comes to
effectively expressing an opposing view. This is
especially so when our Councillors are reluctant to
promote a view that may conflict with their colleagues.
Lone individuals expressing views contrary to those of
the Shark Bay Shire have been denigrated, threatened
with police action and intimidated with action affecting
their livelihood.
Here are the shameful facts of just one incident which I
have recently experienced:
Our Shire
Council contracted with the WA Museum for the loan of
items for the Discovery/Interpretive Centre. When the
loan agreement expired the Shire Council refused to give
the items back. Incredibly this action was endorsed by
every Councillor! and the joke around Perth was that in
Shark Bay the word “lend” is spelt “steal”. I was
concerned at what the Council were doing and went
public. The Council's action was to:
-
Ban all of
my articles from the Inscription Post
-
Have my
mail, criticizing the Council, retrieved from the
mail system by Australia Post.
-
Call the
Police in. to charge me ( thus preventing me from
running for council)
-
Threaten me
with civil and criminal charges and law suits.
The
Commissioner of Police got implicated and now the CCC at
Federal level is involved.
The Council
spent thousands of taxpayers dollars on legal advice on
how it might keep the Museum's property but it was
finally forced to return the items. That money should
have been spent on a community facility such as a
sporting and recreational centre at the oval, especially
for the youth. Australia Post and the Police have in
essence apologised.
Not so the
Council. It sought to get a Restraining Order through
the District Court in Carnarvon to prevent me from "
...further criticising this Shire.."! (motion moved by
Councillor Blennerhassett and seconded by
Councillor Cane), and sought to hit me with a case
of defamation. All because I dared criticise the action
of the Council. Once again solicitors are involved,
with ratepayers and residents footing lawyers fees in a
Supreme Court issue. Further time, money and energies
spent in trying to quieten a dissenting voice and erode
Freedom of Speech. These energies could have been
better employed in helping the Police eradicate hard
drugs from town.
Freedom of
Speech is the very fabric of a healthy democratic
society. What is of concern to many Shark Bay residents
is that not only is this freedom under attack but there
is also a climate of fear of reprisal should one express
a view which opposes the Shire Council. There are
businesses in town that know there can be a price to pay
if one openly questions or criticises the Council or
councillors.
Of four
recently departed major business families, three openly
stated that it was the local Council that had influenced
their decision to leave. And whilst the fourth family
left for reasons of health, they too expressed their
extreme apprehension at the situation with the local
government in Shark Bay.
I
will do everything I can to stop this oppression of
Freedom of Speech.
Your
democratic right to be represented at local government
is being ignored.
In Shark Bay the
Councillors have historically shown an unusually united
front. They are renowned for doing as the President
says. Even though the President isn't legally allowed
to act without the prior knowledge and endorsement of
fellow councillors, this Shire has a reputation for
letting the President do as he pleases, without censure
and thereby with their endorsement. This has led to an
attitude of the community being expected to do as the
Councillors tell it, rather than the other way around.
The Denham Quays development was a classic example. The
community repeatedly voted against the proposal. But
the Shire still proceeded with it. When finally the
community carried a vote of no confidence in the
Council, that too was ignored. That development, but not
the dictatorial behaviour, was finally halted by the
State Government.
Here are
further examples of the Council ignoring the community:
-
A dozen
written and emailed objections were sent to the
Council over a recent matter, the objections were
glossed over, dismissed and were not properly tabled
nor recorded in the Minutes.
-
The
petition with some 750 signatures objecting to
the Councils proposal to close the Monkey jetty was
never tabled nor acknowledged nor was the letter
accompanying the petition replied to.
-
A
strongly worded letter from the RSL in
connection with the old Police Station was never
tabled, discussed, nor replied to.
-
I
personally gave three letters to a Councillor on
crucial issues. They were binned.
I
will ensure the community's wishes are sought and
properly represented.
We are not being treated equally by the Council
The present
Council repeatedly contravenes the Local Government Act
when it comes to 'impartiality'. Here are just a few
examples:
-
A
cul-de-sac placed in Barnard Lane at the street
entrance of the Shire President's residence (the
only private residence in Barnard Lane) has no doubt
improved the ambience and the value of his property.
But it is a decided disadvantage for the town. It
has proved to be an on-going headache for service
vehicles and trucks. Because they can't drive
through from Durlacher Street to Brockman Street
they are forced into much awkward turning and
reversing at the Durlacher Street end. There is
inadequate parking for coaches on the sea front in
Knight Terrace. If there was no cul-de-sac, coaches
could park behind the Discovery Centre. Last
year we paid over $18,000 to Taylor Burrell for Town
Planning services. Yet we find this cul-de-sac
placed in the middle of Barnard Lane. What sort of
Town Planning is this? Why did no Councillor speak
out, despite the objections from various of the
emergency services? The cul-de-sac benefits only
one resident - the Shire President
-
Recently
application was made to operate a business from
the foreshore in Knight Terrace. Another sought
permission to use the carpark alongside the
Discovery Centre building. Both were granted
permission to advertise and operate from these
central and advantageous positions. Yet 6 months
earlier, another business, having had permission for
over a year to similarly use the foreshore, was
given 7 days to cease its operations. When that
business shut down its Denham operation the Shire
Council then tried also to revoke the operating
position the business had used for 2 years at Monkey
Mia. The same business is continually harassed
by this Council over its presence on another
property, over which the Shire's jurisdiction is
uncertain.
-
The Shire
recently moved to increase jetty fees at Monkey
Mia, but only for two tour operators. The
fishermen's fees were to remain unaffected. One of
the Shire Councillors, who voted on that motion,
operates a fishing vessel that uses the jetty. He
voted on the matter with the full support of his
fellow councillors.
I will
ensure equal and fair treatment for all in keeping
with the Local Government Act.
You
are being kept in the dark by the Council.
It is
becoming increasingly evident letters to Council are not
being tabled, the minutes are inaccurate and this Shire
does not readily divulge it's financial activities. Did
you know that the previous MP for this area (Rod
Sweatman) stood up in Parliament during the Denham Quays
issue and said, in reference to this Council and its
recording of minutes "..they (the
Council) write their own history in Shark Bay ..."
Protocols
of meetings.Those
of us that do attend Council meetings have, as a matter
of course, seen the minutes fail to record proceedings
accurately. Further, those people who have expressed
views contrary to the Shire, are routinely vilified and
after their departure Councillors have made cheap jokes
and unseemly offensive comments . I have not seen
one Councillor reprimand his colleagues for such
behaviour all of which is contrary to the Local
Government Act's Code of Conduct. Whilst the minutes are
sanitized and the Councillors continue to reject the
recording of their meetings on tape, CD or video, their
behaviour will continue unchallenged unless individuals
like you or I take a stance.
Meeting
behind closed doors.
There is an
increasing tendency for the Council to meet in secret on
matters that should be discussed openly in front of
electors.
Finances.
At
every Council meeting the financial report for the month
is given to each Councillor. Be you a rate-payer or tax
paying resident it is your money the Council handles and
you are entitled to know the details. But try seeing a
copy of this information and you'll find it difficult.
Councillors won't readily show their copy. It is not
provided with the minutes nor is it posted on the
website along with the minutes. Why is this crucial
information not made readily available? Well read on
and you'll get the picture.
I will push for
the truthful recording of Council Meetings. Meetings
behind closed doors will be strenuously resisted. I
will keep you informed of all council matters, via a
monthly newsletter.
You
decide. Is this a financially responsible Council?
Whose pockets are being looked after here?
Last year nearly
$6,000 was paid out to Councillors for meetings they
never attended. The President failed to attend 4
meetings but none the less still received a total of
$3,664. One Councillor was paid $330 for travelling
costs plus the $275 attendance fees for a meeting not
attended. Another was absent for 6 meetings and got
paid. Yet when Councillor Ken Gordon received sitting
fees totalling $550, for two meetings he didn't attend,
he donated the money back to the community from whence
it came. In this years budget it has been proposed to
increase the Presidents allowance by a further $5,000.
$90,000 for the Galla Curci .The
scooped out bit of sea-bed where the Galla Curci is
anchored has been re-labelled a “sea-fed swimming
hole”. Last financial year it cost $30,000 to maintain
the "hole" (No, it is not the bit the kids swim
in). When that sum of $30,000 is added to the $60,000 we
have paid for the Galla Curci to be repaired in Albany
(whilst it could have been done locally), the presence
of this lugger has recently cost us all up around
$90,000. And yet the vessel continues to leak. Are these
sums justified? Instead of a vessel monument the
money might have been better spent on helping to provide
say an operational vessel for VMR or perhaps towards a
resident doctor. I will suggest the Galla Curci be
placed on a hard stand in front of the Discovery
Centre. It will save a ton of time and money and might
do something for that building.
Abandoned,
derelict facilities
-
The circular
ex-fish pond which was donated for the sea-fed
swimming pool lies as an abandoned eyesore on the
beachfront at the western end of Knight Terrace.
-
The swimming
pontoon that was anchored near the Gallicurci also
lies abandoned on the beach close to the centre of
town
-
What about
the $30,000, washed down the drain of the failed hot
tub at the town oval ? That could have gone towards
a defribillator and an ECG machine for the Silver
Chain.
Dog
catcher/Parking fine attendant.
The budgeting of
approx $2,000 a month to bring a “Statutory Compliance
Control Officer” ie dog catcher/parking ticket
issuer/litter controller from Carnarvon for 2-3 days a
month is ridiculous, to put it mildly. That money could
be kept money in town by awarding that job to a local,
at a fraction of the cost. Do you think we really need
parking fine attendants to ruin a holidaymakers day?
Car parking is hardly a problem in our town. Such a sum
could be used instead to provide a program for helping
pensioners with those heavier tasks they can't tackle.
Interpretive/Discovery
Centre.
I've asked
business people in town to comment on the Centre's
record for the last financial year. The responses that
I've received are:
-
That even
after 5 business plans the Council has not accepted
the reality that the Centre will never make money
without a drastic change in the overall
concept
-
That
the financial projections of the business plans are
baseless - they have been created out of thin air -
no real research was done on comparable operations.
-
Studies show
that Interpretive Centres usually only survive
through being financially propped up.
-
Although
the expected maximum visitor rate is 45,000 people
per year the Centre will be fortunate to see 5,000
to 10,000 a year.
-
The Centre's
finances reveal a typical scenario of a struggling
business which cuts marketing expenditure in an
effort to save money, yet marketing is the very
thing that brings in business.
-
A
business person would expect a return of 10% on a $7
million investment. We should thus be looking at
$700,000 to spend on amenities in this town instead
of throwing good money after bad in feeding a
growing debt.
