Duncan Dey, Mullumbimby
Thanks, Echo, for pursuing the issue of the state minister for local government intervening to enable people with a pecuniary interest to remain and to vote at meetings of a council or a committee.
The office of local government (OLG) response confirms my view that the intervention clause should be struck out, both from our Council and the state’s model code.
If intervention has only been used 11 times since 1993, I don’t think the the minister has stepped in to save quorum at a meeting. That’s an ongoing issue at dozens of meetings per year in this Shire alone.
When quorum is threatened (ie almost half the members are absent) that is exactly the wrong time to resolve on matters when someone with a pecuniary interest is in the room. Doing that would be malpractice.
To be blunt, the OLG explanation is rubbish. I now worry where my taxes are going if they have contributed to such output from a state government body.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
