Tom Tabart, Drysdale
Ian Cohen’s article in last week’s Echo summarised the sad state of the current Greens cohort in Council and the local party in general.
Having someone with Ian’s history of green activism in the environment and parliament strongly voice his total disillusionment underlines how far they have strayed from Greens principles and values
Simon and the ‘three blind mice’, with no discernable record in the green movement, seized power on the backlash to the previous Nats-inspired Rose/Sol council but then proceeded to follow the same pro-development path.
There are no checks or balances on their activities as the Byron Greens party group has lost all political direction with only a small rump of Simon’s cheer group ever attending meetings.
They have been too lazy and arrogant to learn the intricacies of local government, ignore the rich legacy of policy directives left by former Green councils, and allow a very ordinary staff to run rings around them.
Earlier Green councils had their shortcomings but they did the work and largely held the line against ever-pressing development interests.
This lot may as well join the Nats and be done with it.
Some seem to think it a virtue to attack from the sidelines, while achieving very little.
Hard working local environmentalists achieved a great deal in this community, long before the greens party existed, let alone greens councillors or MPs.
They stopped a hideous tourist development at Broken Head, stopped Tyagarah Air field being turned into a jetport, and put in years of hard graft on Club Med (before Businesses for the Future existed) and numerous other awful developments. Few locals would know the names of these people, let alone see their names or photos in the local papers. They certainly didn’t get to polish plush leather seats in parliament on generous pay and pensions for life.
Where were these Greens MPs and fmr councillors when state government approved the Spendour DA, jammed right next to the nationally important wildlife corridor locals had fought for years to protect and millions of taxpayers’ funds were used to buy up adjacent farmland to do so? Then the hard work of taking the DA to court and winning, only to have it all overturned by the ‘Pass Anything Commission’. Oh that’s right, they trotting along to Speldour with their free passes to have a “stunning time” as Richard Di Natale put it.
Where were these people when the fmr Ballina MP (who’d achieved little in 27 years) provided $10m for the useless bypass? Not much action from them when it may have made a difference, apart from supporting the idea of putting the bypass on the train line!
Where were they when the same MP and the Nats backtracked on their long standing promise to ‘get the trains running’ which would have reduced traffic congestion AND carbon emissions without the need for the expensive, destructive bypass?
Where have they been while the Nats and ALP have been handing over millions of taxpayers money to destroy the $4 BILLION train line to replace it with an expensive bike track that won’t take one car off our roads? The silence from these people has been deafening.
Despite having a train line which served the community well for 110 years, connecting most of the North Coast major populations centers, and could easily do so again, and despite 15 years of hard work by locals and thousands of signatures on petitions calling for badly needed train services, why is our ‘green’ MP asking questions in parliament about a ’50 year transport plan’ for the Northern Rivers? In all the years spent collecting signatures at rallies, markets and other local events, NOT ONE person has ever asked for a ‘transport plan’.
Looks as if they’re happy to allow the Nats to destroy the joint while they create a distraction about ‘transport plans’.
Time for ICAC to delve into this wicked waste of taxpayers’ money destroying the train line and what is influencing politicians’ lack of action on the rail issue. Couldn’t possibly be support and donations from bike track proponents, could it?
Finding decent candidates is always a problem for political parties and the greens are no exception. Its a thankless job and council positions are poorly remunerated and very demanding. Often its the egotists and seat warming lackeys who tow the line of vested interests who fill the roll – or naive, idealistic hopefuls crushed by the heavy load. Green members need to do more to find and support capable inspiring candidates that are active in our community so we know who we’re voting for before they get elected. Unfortunately this current crop have failed to draw on the knowledge bank, and vast resources within our local communities. They refuse to consult or encourage transparent decision-making – and rely on advice from staff working to make life easier for the developers and accountants. Council has done little to enhance or fulfil community expectations. For simon our mayor, the boys club is far more appealing than community aspirations. This latest council along with the previous one, have been a major disappointment, continually ignoring the greens foundation principles, they have failed to heed the well intentioned critics and shift their focus to ensure green values andideals support evidence based decision-making so we no longer have to rely on staff or developers leading councillors around like those three blind mice.