So this is what Abbott's tweaking at the edges looks like

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says that an election promise which will change the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 to remove an obligation set out in Fair Work legislation is not changing the Fair Work Act, so he wasn't lying to the Australian people 5 days ago when he said "an incoming Coalition government would not seek to change the Fair Work Act at least for the three years of the next term of Parliament."
Today's effort was a clumsy sophism; "This is a savings measure and it will be achieved by amending the electoral act. It does not require any change to the Fair Work Act."
This is how one section of the Fair Work Act would probably read under an Abbott Government.
Looks mighty like change to me!

Fair Work Act 2009

Subdivision F—Liability for costs of protected action ballot

464 Costs of protected action ballot conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission

(1) This section applies if the protected action ballot agent for a protected action ballot is the Australian Electoral Commission.

(2) The Commonwealth is liable for the costs incurred by the Australian Electoral Commission in relation to the protected action ballot, whether or not the ballot is completed. [superseded]

(3) However, except as provided by regulations made for the purposes of subsection 466(1), the Commonwealth is not liable for any costs incurred by the Australian Electoral Commission in relation to legal challenges to matters connected with the protected action ballot. [superseded]

UPDAAATE!
I see that someone in the blogosphere has begun to put about the story that Tones was only talking about general union elections and not protected ballots so that didn't involve changing Fair Work law at all.
But if one goes to the AEC website this pops up:
"Under the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 (the Act), the AEC must conduct all elections for office in registered organisations unless an exemption has been granted by the Fair Work Australia. This includes all elections and amalgamation ballots for trade unions and employer organisations that are registered under the Act. These elections are usually conducted by means of postal voting, and a wide variety of electoral systems are used."
Yep, Tones is really out to change Fair Work law.

Clarence Valley councillors bite the bullet in order to save the local government area from threat of a state government-imposed administrator

Mayor: Jim Simmons    

A/General Manager: Ashley Lindsay                                                                                                                           

LOCKED BAG 23 GRAFTON NSW 2460

Telephone: (02) 6643 0200

Fax: (02) 6642 7647

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 19, 2017

Making the Clarence Valley Council financially sustainable

CLARENCE Valley Council has voted to introduce a range of measures to improve its long-term financial position and help it meet the NSW Government’s Fit for the Future benchmarks.

The measures include applying for a special rates variation of 8% each year for three years, including an estimated rate pegged limit of 2%. The cumulative impact would be a rise in the  general rate of 25.9%, which would be retained permanently in council’s rate base. Council will also implement a host of savings measures totalling more than $8 million over four years.

Acting general manager, Ashley Lindsay, said a special rates variation, if approved, would raise an additional $7.08 million over three years.

“These measures will improve our financial position by more than $15 million over four years,” he said.

“None of this will be easy. No-one wants to pay more rates and we don’t want to charge them, but the harsh reality is the only alternative to a special rates variation is deep cuts to, or the elimination of, many of the services council provides and the community expects.

“We have been told by the Office of Local Government we need to have a balanced operating result by 2021.

“The cost-cutting measures we will introduce result in the loss of the equivalent of 24.5 full time staff positions, cuts to a range of services and better cost recovery on others. We have done everything possible to keep rate rises to a minimum.”

At the council meeting on Tuesday night, Cr Andrew Baker said that in 2012 the NSW Government’s TCorp identified the need for council to make efficiency savings and introduce a special rates variation.

He said that since then he and fellow councillors had tried to find ways to make the council financially sustainable without the need for a rates variation.

“I’m certain that each councillor that is here today was elected with an ambition to not increase the rates, to not cut services, to not cut employment, to not reduce facilities and amenities, to not increase debt and to provide responsible governance,” he said.

“Council has individually and collectively examined, debated, challenged and examined again every suggestion in every possible way to deliver on those noble aspirations of no rates increases, no service cuts, no employment reductions, no reduced facilities and amenities, and no more debt.

“While I can’t see how we can avoid a rates increase, I can say we have all made a big attempt to do just that.

“We’ve exhausted the discovery of all options and examined the possibilities and variations; we’ve called for and listened to expert advice, numerous reports and finance models. Some advice we have accepted and some we haven’t.

“We’ve looked for the best outcomes and least pain for our residents and ratepayers.”

Cr Peter Ellem said councillors had no choice but to put their hard hats on and make unpopular decisions to meet the State Government's Fit for The Future benchmarks to become financially sustainable by the end of the current four-year term, and indeed, for the decade thereafter.

“It is the shared responsibility of the nine duly-elected councillors, and not that of a financial controller or administrator, to adopt a draft package of job cuts, to be made in full consultation with the United Services Union, efficiency savings, and regrettably rate increases, to be put up for community consultation,” he said.

Mr Lindsay said council would seek the views of the community before reaching a final decision on a special rates variation application and some of the efficiency measures, and would consider a report at its May meeting on a schedule for community engagement.

Release ends. 

UPDATE

The Daily Examiner, 20 April 2017:

A pre-election survey by The DEX pinned four councillors against the SRV and only two, Cr Debrah Novak and Cr Greg Clancy, remained true to their word……

Cr Toms said voting for the SRV was a hard pill to swallow.

"I made declarations that I wanted better financial management and I wouldn't support the SRV and I wouldn't support excessive rate increase," she said.

"But I've had to change that position.

"When I had that position, I truly meant it... but now I have a lot more information and after a full day with the Office of Local Government (I have changed my mind)."

Cr Toms said despite the community backlash, the councillors had to make the decision.

"It's easy to criticise, people think we do the wrong thing, but the reality is that the councillors make the best decisions they can," Cr Toms said.

"I did change my mind over the SRV and that was also a very difficult decision to make, but I have to make it and I do believe I didn't have a choice."

The adopted recommendation included a detailed report which outlined that from 2017/18 to 2019/20, the council would make $15,566,987, which is more than the council's total debt of $15,343,127. The rates rise is to be rolled out 8% each year over three years which will amount to an expected total of $7.8million in revenue to come from the SRV.

Seven of the nine councillors voted for the SRV recommendation.

It will go to community consultation at the May council meeting……..

Cr Peter Ellem said the council had no choice but to make the unpopular decision.

"I believe that it is the shared responsibility of the nine duly-elected councillors, and not that of a financial controller or administrator, to adopt a draft package of job cuts, to be made in full consultation with the United Services Union, efficiency savings, and regrettably rate increases, to be put up for community consultation," Cr Ellem said.

"As a new councillor I am wiser because we have demanded and recently received more detailed information on the operational side of things, and greater clarity from the Office of Local Government."

Cr Ellem said fixing the $15million "black hole" which the new council has inherited from a "clunky forced amalgamation" needed addressing.

"My personal preference would be for the SRV component of this suite of measures to be lower than the 8% per year, but when we consult with ratepayers and residents in coming months it will become clear that a lower SRV will mean deeper cuts to local jobs and valued, if not cherished, services," he said.

Echoes of the unfortunate term of a contentious general manager linger

On 22 May 2014 North Coast Voices posted mention of Clarence Valley Council's refusal to follow the Information Commissioner's recommendation to allow a staff member access to information in a report on his conduct (which found no corrupt conduct), when in February 2014 at Item 14.005/14 they unanimously agreed to change the wording of the existing April 2013 Privacy Management Plan so that it appears to significantly depart from the Model Plan supplied by the NSW Division of Local Government.

This week the NSW Court List contained mention of this case before the NSW Industrial Relations Commission on 3 May 2017:

Francis Jon Hallam v Clarence Valley Council

  

Yes, the allegedly destabilizing element may have been removed from Clarence Valley Council but the ripple effect flows on.

"So what": the face of not-so-good governance on the NSW North Coast

Last weekend a copy of Clarence Valley Council's June 2010 Budget Submissions Summary was doing the digital rounds much to the enjoyment of local cynics.
Of particular note was this answer to one concern raised about the fact that after 6 years council still had not reconciled a $1.2 million deficit brought into the amalgamation process by Grafton City Council: "So what".
But what really had locals opened mouthed was this answer to concerns about lack of transparency and accountability:
"As the 'senior administrator' who recommended that CCRT funding be used for lifesaving services, I (Rob Donges) have taken responsibility for including Iluka and will take responsibility should a higher authority determine that this funding arrangement is grossly negligent or some such thing."
That last line comes after a previous entry which goes:
"LPMA representatives have verbally raised concerns as to the funding of this service from CCRT and staff have provided our reasoning. Nothing more has been heard. If the Authority were to formally advise that the funding is inappropriate, we would recommend it be funded elsewhere i.e. General Fund."
The merry cynics are now laying bets that the Land and Property Mangement Authority won't be amused when it learns that its attempt to informally manage the problem of past misallocations of what could be hundreds of thousands of dollars in Clarence Coast Reserve Trust funds has been seen as something council staff can brush aside - especially as it was a resident's complaint which first brought the matter to light and council management has been very careful not to consult with the NSW Department of Lands itself just in case it wasn't left with anymore wriggle room.
Clarence Coast Reserve Trust Budget 2010/11

Clarence Valley Council - matured or over ripe?

The Daily Examiner letter to the editor 3 November 2011:

A mature council

THE Clarence Valley Council's recently appointed GM, Scott Greensill, reportedly claimed "the council was now maturing past amalgamation" (DEX, October 27). Well, just how much has our forced amalgamated council matured?
At the council's general meeting on September 13, the staff's recommendation to councillors seeking federal funding for a $7m extension to the Grafton Gallery was prepared (in part) by none other than the Grafton Gallery's director, Jude McBean (item 12.167/11). That privilege included "waiving development assessment and construction fees" of $40,692 as well as "identifying a potential $4.13m which could accrue from developer (contributions) over the next 20 years". But no mention was made that the developer's contributions plan showed Grafton's projected population growth to 2021 was only 494 and zero to 2031, thereby contributing little S94 revenues.
In contrast, at the same meeting, council staff recommended to councillors the "waiving of hire fees of $150 for the cost of council's events trailer" for Iluka's Family Festival to raise money to build a sports shed for Iluka (item 12-168/11). Yet the developer's contributions plan shows Iluka's projected population growth of 642 to 2021 and 627 to 2031, thereby generating far more S94 funds than Grafton, as well as experiencing significant pressures on its existing infrastructures.
It must be a niggle in the guts for Iluka's volunteers to work their butts off to raise community funds, but not be given the privileged opportunity to prepare their own recommendations to a mature forced amalgamated Clarence Valley Council.

RAY HUNT
Yamba.

Policy Platforms of Candidates in the Clarence Valley Local Government Elections, Saturday 10 September 2016 - Part Three

North Coast Voices contacted as many Clarence local government election candidates as was possible and issued an invitation to supply their policy positions for our readers.

Here are the third post in this series.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SUE HUGHES

Sue Hughes

I have been a Councillor since 2008 and my vision for the next term of Council is for unity and financial sustainability. I want to see Councillors work together for the betterment of our community, for the entire Clarence Valley and not just in their own backyard.   I have lived in Yamba, Grafton and on the banks of the Mann River and I currently work in Maclean, Gulmarrad, Lawrence and all over the Clarence Coast. I believe I am a true representative of the Clarence Valley. I feel privileged to represent you the ratepayers and residents and treat my role seriously and with a professional manner and always with the highest integrity.

Being a Councillor isn’t just about attending Council Meetings, it’s about working within our community, representing our community and being a leader in the community.  Councillors should be advocates for the broader community and make decisions based on what the majority of the community want and not what the minority want.  It’s about keeping the community’s best interests in mind and listening, engaging and being active with our residents and ratepayers.

During the past term of Council, we have had to make some very tough decisions around rates and budgets etc. And our role can be very difficult as we try and balance the expectation from the community with the financial and budgetary constraints that we are faced with.  It is very much an ongoing challenge. All the financial indicators demonstrate that Council needs to increase the level of funding it has committed, to the renewal and maintenance of its building and infrastructure assets.

I want to continue with the hard work that has been undertaken in the past term of Council, continue to make those challenging decisions whilst listening to our community AND finding that balance I mentioned earlier.

I strongly believe that Council is heading in the right direction for long term sustainability, we just need to ensure that those decisions we make have an impact on our long term not just the short term. 

During my term on Council over the past 8 years I been involved with the following committees, the Saleyards Committee, the Tourism Advisory Committee, Clarence Roundtable, Clarence Valley Business Advisory Committee, the Gallery Advisory Committee, the Sports Marketing Australia Committee, Australia Day Committee and have Chaired the Environment, Economic and Community Committee of Council.

I may be the least outspoken Councillor on Council but I sure as heck have the community’s best interest at heart.  I demonstrate this daily by my involvement with voluntary roles such as President, Yamba Chamber of Commerce, President, Light up the Darkness (Mental Health Advocacy Group), and I, MC at events and festivals when invited to do so. I also have volunteered with the Gallery Foundation for the Grafton Regional Gallery, Art in the Paddock and Gate to Plate events. In addition I’m an inaugural member of the Surfing the Coldstream Festival and inaugural member of the CV Business Excellence Awards.  I also created and manage five different Facebook pages dedicated to promoting our lifestyle and showcasing our natural beauty around Yamba, Maclean and Lawrence.

I am passionate about the Clarence Valley, passionate about business and economic growth, passionate about tourism, arts and culture and I’m passionate about making a difference where I live.

The next 4-5 years are critical in the Clarence Valley, with the Pacific Highway upgrade, the Grafton Gaol, the Bridges and the Blueberry Industry we need to not only take advantage of the economic boom but put strategies in place for when the projects are completed and there is a nose dive in activity.

We need to continue to foster existing businesses and help grow and encourage new businesses to our region and most importantly keep them here.

Should you vote for me on 10th September, I promise to continue to work hard and represent you the ratepayers and residents of the Clarence Valley to the best of my ability, it is indeed a privilege. 

Text and photograph supplied by Sue Hughes

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

KEITH BATES

Flyer supplied by Keith Bates

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

URSULA TUNKS

                                                                     Ursula Tunks

We are facing a dire financial situation, the new council needs to face this issue head on; with integrity. If elected I will advocate for the new council team to immediately contract an independent Auditor to undertake a thorough internal audit of the Council’s finances. Should that auditor recommend that the new council be removed and replaced by an administrator I will support this recommendation. My aim is purely to ensure that the CVC survives the current fiscal crisis without inflicting the absurd SRV on our community.

Should an auditor find that the new council can continue operating my priorities are:

 Approaching the State Government for support in rectifying their ill thought out amalgamation process and establish their liability to our community for the resulting chaos, seeking their commitment to contributing to the recovery of the CVC to a functional and viable local government body.

 Work with the CVC Management, as part of the team, to rein in spending and to include all staff in an urgent analysis of areas where cost savings can be achieved.

 Work with the newly elected council to establish a strategy and subsequent plan to achieve a positive cultural change in the CVC’s organisational identity. CVC staff and ratepayers MUST insist on an organisational culture which focuses on the support of the staff and community and immediately removes the fear and control management style that has been permitted to flourish without check for the past few years.

There will be a need to focus the CVC on the ‘core’ service delivery over the term, an obligation that it MUST meet. I will advocate for cuts, which will be unpopular, however popularity isn’t our answer. If we are truly committed as a community to improving our local government governance and service delivery then we must brace for a four year period of reigning in spending. To this end I will be advocating that a process be established to support those groups which may be subject to funding cuts, to identify new income streams, private and government funding. My commitment will be to ensuring that where CVC is unable to continue to support groups that we assist those groups in identifying new support and funding sources.

My voting preferences are:

1. Ursula Tunks

2. Ian Saunders

3. Margaret McKenna

4. Brett Tibbett

5. Peta Rogers

6. Andrew Baker

7. Joy de Roos 

Text and photograph supplied by Ursula Tunks

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ian Saunders                                        

Ian Saunders

VOTE 1: IAN SAUNDERS

To build a fairer, more equitable, more inclusive and more humane Council that is a part of our community rather than behaving like its ruler. 

• ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS: Bachelor of Engineering; Master of Engineering Science; Graduate Diploma in Management - electives in Project Management, Contract Law, Public Finance.

• RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: 40 years of professional experience in Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, and The Seychelles including 14 years of Local Government experience with Brisbane City, Logan City and 4 years with The Clarence Valley Council

• EMPLOYER & CLIENT ORGANIZATIONS: Snowy Mountains Engineering Corp., AusAid, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Queensland Electricity Commission, Water Resources Commission, Queensland Alumina Ltd., Munro Johnson & Assoc (later Parsons Brinkerhoff).

• TASKS FOR THE NEW COUNCIL: Independent internal audit of Council, particularly the Trust funds; Review the role and authority of the GM and HR Manager; Public disclosure of employment contracts for executive staff and amounts paid in out of court non-disclosure agreements; Mandatory project review for all CVC projects that over run budget and completion dates.

Changes to the Local Government Act to bring it into line with State and Federal governments regarding issues such as Council meeting procedures and the protocols and conventions observed in Westminster Democracies; The pre-election "caretaker mode" to prevent the awarding of contracts like the Tyson St Depot contract, immediately prior to elections; An immediate moratorium on public assets sales. No SRV, in fact rates reductions should be possible after a complete overhaul of Council operational strategies; Finally, a reconstitution and restructure of the Tourism Advisory Committee and its funding.

I'm not into election time motherhood statements and I’m not trying to be an apologist for the last Council, particular the majority five Councillors who so frustrated the minority four. But trying to do one full time job guarding the chickens from the foxes as well as working another to earn a living is “Mission Impossible”!  That said, Root Cause analyses of almost ANY of the issues confronting Clarence Valley Council keep returning the same result: Clarence Valley Council is the product of a hopelessly bungled amalgamation. It’s one thing to merge a bunch of little country Councils into a multi-million dollar public corporation, but to then walk away leaving them floundering under the Legislation designed for the little country shire is reprehensible. The State Government caused the problems and it’s the State Government that needs to sort them out starting with the $127M debt. The Minister will need to bring out the cheque book he used for the recent bout of forced amalgamations; the one that CVC didn’t see in 2004.  Successive Ministers sat back in Sydney for 12 years and watched this disaster unfold and they did absolutely nothing! It’s time to “pay the piper”. Then there needs to be a new Local Government Act Mk 2 that will fit the needs of the big amalgamated Councils. We don’t want another 9 elected mushrooms and a despotic CEO with a watering can and a bucket of manure running the entire circus. A skills audit to identify the glaring gap between what we need and what we have now in Councils executive, management and staff, and a strategy to fill that gap would also be helpful. Maybe then, a new debt free Council might have a slightly better than even chance at delivering some stability, economic sustainability, some semblance of a representative democracy, and the prosperous future the Valley people deserve. 

Text and photograph supplied by Ian Saunders

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Previous posts in the 2016 Clarence Valley local government election candidate profile series:

http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2016/08/policy-platforms-of-candidates-in_26.html

http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2016/08/policy-platforms-of-candidates-in_30.html

Inquiry into Closure or Downsizing of Corrective Services NSW Facilities: attempting to politicize or bluntly telling it like it was?

A political decision was made by the O’Farrell Government to use the NSW public service as a cost cutting measure in the face of a 2011-12 budget deficit that wasn’t.

 

One of the local casualties was Grafton Gaol and its staff.

 

The Daily Examiner has taken a disapproving tone towards unspecified politicizing during NSW Legislative Council Select Committee into the Closure or Downsizing of Corrective Services NSW Facilities hearings:

 

SIX Grafton witnesses called to give evidence into jail downsizing and closures shrugged off attempts to politicise the debate during yesterday's hearing at the South Grafton Ex-Servicemen's Club.

The Select Committee into the Closure or Downsizing of Corrective Services NSW Facilities called six witnesses: Mayor Richie Williamson, Clarence Valley Community Union representatives Tony King and Kassie Packwood, and Sandy Stewart, James Paterson and Jeremy Challacombe, from the Chamber of Commerce, to give evidence and answer its questions…..

 

I didn’t attend any of the Inquiry hearings to date so I have no idea how many speakers giving evidence mentioned the political background and, as the Grafton hearing transcript has still not been posted online I remain unenlightened.

However, what the Sydney hearing transcript shows is that one member of the select committee, Liberal Party MP David Clarke, appears to be more inclined to put the O'Farrell Government's case for the gaol closure than to seek to understand how this closure unfolded.

One has to wonder if this attitude continued once the Select Committee came to the Clarence Valley.

 

I do have a transcript of this speech from the 10 December 2012 Grafton public forum which accompanied that day’s hearing and readers can make up their own minds as to the legitimacy or otherwise of addressing the politics behind the gaol closure:

 

Firstly, I would like to thank the NSW Legislative Council for holding this Inquiry and for coming to the City of Grafton today to get an on-the-ground appreciation of how important an institution Grafton Gaol has been to the local economy and social fabric of the Clarence Valley.

 

A little over a year ago, I was fighting a by-election as the Country Labor candidate for Clarence, and one of my campaign issues was to warn of the possible privatisation or closure of Grafton Gaol.

 

My submission to this inquiry, written on behalf of Country Labor’s Grafton and Lower Clarence branches, outlines how this wasn’t hot air; we ended up with an effective closure, forced through without consultation.

 

This inquiry hopefully will put the downsizing of Grafton Gaol into some Statewide context and give Graftonians some answers to their questions about why this most political of decisions was made.

 

The people never accepted this decision and instinctively rallied to protest against it, in a way seldom witnessed in such a traditionally conservative rural area.

 

I pay tribute to the real heroes of the six-day picket outside the gates of the gaol -- those folk of all ages and backgrounds who came out of their homes and camped out to defy the powers that be, and keep a vigil over their gaol.

 

This decision came from Sydney; Corrective Services senior management had wanted to break up the culture of Grafton Gaol (whatever that meant), and this was a convenient fit with the Liberals ideological slashing of State public service jobs.

 

What would Grafton-born Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page – founder of the old Country Party and Australia’s 11th Prime Minister – have  thought of the National Party’s weak capitulation to the Sydney Liberals’ agenda?

 

Sir Earle was a conviction politician; he harboured the northerners' resentment of the 'Sydney octopus' and the Page family had been active in calls for a new State.

 

In January 1915, Sir Earle launched what became the Northern New South Wales Separation League in Grafton and in a grassroots network, formed more than 20 local branches.

 

He argued that metropolitan interests had stunted northern growth. The New State movement did not prevail, but its spirit lives on from time to time. It did in the people’s picket line.

 

The State Member for Clarence's evidence to this inquiry in Sydney and his recent comments to The Daily Examiner are unconvincing and smack of revisionism.

 

Regardless of when the MP was told of the plan to axe ‘x’ number of local jobs, he should have instinctively known that the right thing to do was to fight for those jobs.

 

Instead, he was quite prepared to sell out Grafton. Remember when this fellow was Mayor of Maclean Shire Council, he denigrated Grafton City Council when it suited his political campaign against council amalgamation.

 

And what can one make of the State Member for Clarence’s quote: “I was in the middle of an accident. It was an exceptional set of circumstances and everyone was on holidays, including the Premier.”

 

The electorate was looking for exceptional leadership, but it wasn’t to be found.

 

And the leaders of the Nationals, the party that so many of the electorate voted for in March 2011, were absent and silent as this betrayal of the bush was played out.  

 

Peter Ellem

Just what one would expect from a Lib-Nats government - a decision with minimum community consultation to herd at least 1,500 regional kindergarten to high school students in the one campus with likely teacher losses

Doesn’t this sound grand? A $100 million mega campus for all of the Murwillumbah area, merging students from kindergarten to high school……

Echo NetDaily, 28 October 2020:

Murwillumbah’s four public schools will be amalgamated into a single Kindergarten to Year 12 campus at Murwillumbah High, the state government has annouced.

Deputy Premier John Barilaro and Education Minister Sarah Mitchell announced today that Murwillumbah Public School, Murwillumbah East Public School, Murwillumbah High School and Wollumbin High School will be combined to form a single $100 million Murwillumbah Education Campus.

Ms Mitchell said the new mega school would cater to up to 1,500 students, and follow a four-year rebuilding project.

She pledged that no permanent teaching jobs would be lost, and spruiked the ‘community benefits’ of the plan, including the possible joint use of sporting, arts and health facilities.

‘The new Murwillumbah Education Campus will truly be at the heart of the community, and I look forward to seeing it take shape over the next few years,’ Ms Mitchell said…..

This announcement of a major school merger in the Northern Rivers took the local community by surprise and this appears to have been the plan all along according to the government's own time table which had the two primary school communities only informed by email on the day of the announcement. 

Possibly the lack of early warning was intended to mute the initial response of the teacher's union to the fact that this merger will inevitably see a reduction in teacher numbers once the school merger is completed. 

NSW Labor MP for Lismore Janelle Saffin, Shadow Minister for the North Coast Adam Searle and Shadow Minister for Education Pru Car are concerned with aspects of this merger, which probably consume more of the Berejiklian Government’s time than the creation of a new campus - the chance to sell off state property assets and the chance to reduce public education staffing levels.

Excerpt for a NSW Labor joint media release, 28 October 2020:

Without warning, the Liberals and Nationals will force Murwillumbah Public School, Murwillumbah East Public School and Wollumbin High School to close and move into a single campus at Murwillumbah High School.

Department of Education documents obtained through the Upper House reveals that the amalgamation of four schools in 2024 will change the staffing allocation and potentially displace teaching and support staff.

The Liberals and Nationals promised an upgrade of Murwillumbah East Public School before the last election. Instead, they will now abandon their promise and close the school completely.

“Closing schools is the last thing the Liberals and Nationals should be doing. This is a betrayal of the community. They are robbing future generations of quality public schools in their communities,” Ms Car said.

“This announcement will rob the North Coast of three public school campuses, with a mega-school increasing school travel times for residents and reducing green space.”

Shadow Minister for the North Coast Adam Searle MLC said: “Now we know why the Premier and the National Party have been stalling on replacing the library and classrooms lost at Murwillumbah East Public School in the floods.

“Despite all their hollow promises, it seems that yet more privatisation is their true agenda, not delivering for students and families in Murwillumbah.

“This decision has been made without consultation. It has all the signs of a dirty land deal, and is not about improving educational outcomes.”

State Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin said: “I am seeking a guarantee from the NSW Government that all current teaching and support staff jobs will be retained.

“This cannot be a cruel cost-cutting exercise,” Ms Saffin said.

“I am also seeking a guarantee that public land stays in public hands and is not flogged off to private developers.”

Ms. Saffin also expanded on her views in another media release on the same day:

...it was a shame Mr Barilaro, as Leader of the NSW Nationals, did not take the opportunity while visiting Murwillumbah to make the following announcements for the town and our region:

A $45-million local business support fund for those impacted by the border closures, as he did for the NSW southern border businesses impacted by border closures.

The Nationals’ election promise to provide 280 more nurses, 32 doctors, 38 allied health staff and 50 more hospital workers with some for Murwillumbah Hospital.

The restoration of major contracts to our local businesses, who recently lost their contracts under Mr Barilaro’s big city-big company procurement policy, to remove waste from our Health, TAFE and caravan parks on Crown reserves.

The upgrade of the Voluntary Buyback House scheme to help with flood protection.

The upgrade to a 24/7 police presence in Murwillumbah.

The reopening of the Murwillumbah Women’s Refuge closed by the Nationals.

The restoration of the Murwillumbah Court services closed by the Nationals.

The announcement of our region’s share of the unspent $1.7 billion Restart NSW Fund, as promised by the Nationals.

Reversing the new practice of Essential Energy ‘gifting’ power poles to farmers and private landholders, which they must pay to maintain if deemed unsafe.