Keep your eyes on Abbott's Achilles' Heel - the unelected Ms. Peta Credlin

Abbott and Credlin on the 2013 federal election campaign trail

Journalist Nikki Savva writing on the subject of the newly installed Abbott Ministry in The Australian on 19 September 2013:

Abbott and his chief of staff Peta Credlin were the key architects of the line-up, and the unkindest view of some of the decisions was that the most powerful woman in the government - and no, that is not Julie Bishop - has become extremely adept at entrenching her place with a system of reward, punishment, inclusion and exclusion.

So indispensable has she become that even quite senior shadow ministry spokesmen - now in cabinet - who have argued with and upset her have been counselled by the leader to apologise to her.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in the Courier Mail on 21 September 2013:

Peta Credlin is (Abbott's) very capable chief of staff, in the covert power list she would be right up there.

* Photograph found at Google Images

UPDATE:

By 5 October 2013 The Sydney Morning Herald  was reporting that:

Fairfax Media has learned Ms Credlin, who steered Mr Abbott's path to The Lodge as his chief-of-staff, is deciding every government appointment from top ministerial aides right down to the electorate staff of new MPs.
She sits at the head of the government's ''star chamber'', which has already knocked back some applicants put forward by cabinet ministers.

NSW Farmers ask Abbott Government & Minister Macfarlane: "Why should CSG extraction take precedence over protection of land and water and basic needs like food and fibre?"

Media Release
18 September 2013	PR/121/13
Setting the record straight on CSG concerns in NSW NSW Farmers today expressed concern that newly appointed Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane was already dismissing opposition to the coal seam gas industry in NSW. Association president Fiona Simson said the minister’s comments were very concerning especially when he had not yet spoken to all relevant stakeholders on the CSG issue. “Farmers and communities in NSW have deep and genuine concerns about the effect this industry is already having and projected to have on agricultural land and water and we do not think it is fair for those concerns to be labelled politically nor emotionally driven,” she said. “We are however encouraged by the Coalition’s Policy for Resources and Energy in particular the CSG co-existence conditions which state that access to prime agricultural land should only be allowed with the farmer’s agreement and that there should be no damage to the underground water supply. “NSW Farmers does not deny that the Queensland CSG industry has progressed much quicker than in NSW. But the geography of Queensland is different and what works there will not necessarily work here and I can assure him that not everyone over the border is ecstatic about how the CSG industry has developed there. “The NSW legislative framework in relation to CSG is severely lacking – this is something we have been saying for years. “We are not against the industry but we are seeking balanced outcomes. Why should CSG extraction take precedence over protection of land and water and basic needs like food and fibre? “NSW Farmers wants adequate protections for agricultural land and water and we want our questions, legitimate questions, answered. Ms Simson said the federal Coalition’s agriculture policy about building better stakeholder relations was encouraging and she was keen to take them up on that. “However, comments like these are a concern so early on in a new government’s first term,” she concluded. ends

Metgasco Limited admits it's going to drill into NSW North Coast aquifers

I understand the concerns, and I know we're talking about drilling through aquifers to reach the gas, but everyone can be confident any future operations will be managed in a prudent, careful manner...[Metgasco Limited Chairman Nick Health, The Daily Examiner,19 September 2013]

Rather strangely the APN Parliament House Press Gallery journalist Daniel Burdon, who wrote the article, did not explore Metgasco’s open admission of an intent to pierce underground water storages and potentially contaminate or destroy these water reserves.

If he is going to report on the Northern Rivers he needs to actually research the issues. Such a shallow piece will win him no respect locally.

Clarence Valley Council's governance problems get a passing mention in local media again

Excerpt from Item 13.197/13 Clarence Valley Council Ordinary Meeting Minutes 17 September 2013:

2. This matter be referred to the internal audit committee due to the inconsistencies 
presented to Council including but not limited to 
a. The report to a Council meeting in May 2011 that council had received no 
response to its invitation for expressions of interest to lease the proposed café;
b. The report to Council after the 2012 Councillor elections, that Council has 
received an EOI despite the absence of a further EOI advertisement after the 
initial report;
c. The report to Council in late 2012 seeking and gaining approval for construction 
of a café as shown on the sketch plan accompanying that report;
d. The report to council of September 2013 showing a construction proposal of a 
café of double the floor area showed in this approval of late 2012; and
e. The inclusion of lessees fitout items in the second enlarged plan that were absent 
in the approved plan.
3. The internal audit committee be requested to provide a response to the November 2013 meeting or earlier.

The Daily Examiner 19 September 2013:

After the election, Cr Williamson congratulated his deputy, Cr Howe and the beaten challengers, Crs Toms and Baker.

Before the meeting, Cr Toms said she had decided to stand for mayor because she was disappointed with some aspects the way the council had been run.

Cr Toms outlined five points:

She believed council was not providing councillors with accurate information; was refusing to answer questions; had shut down debate; endangered a grant application and had spent money without authorisation.

"What concerns and disappoints me most is that the current Mayor considers the council is working well despite the above-mentioned points," she said.

These are serious concerns set out above and Clarence Valley residents and ratepayers deserve a public response from Council.

A growing lack of openness and transparency, deliberate misrepresentation of past ordinary general meeting resolutions, failure to properly record motions in the minutes, failure of at least one councillor to absent when pecuniary interests were involved in matter being discussed, what appears to be a deliberate restriction of the flow of information to Council in the Chamber, management acting without councillors knowledge or consent, a series of project cost over-runs, misuse of a trust fund, behind the scenes threat/s, attempts to bully the media – these are all features of Clarence Valley local government in recent years.

This has to stop. It could stop - if Clarence Valley councillors ceased playing at schoolyard cliques and addressed the governance problems which have festered and spread in recent years.