Self-reflection isn’t a common attribute for politicians, especially the corporatised ‘in the tent’ types.
They are pretty easy to spot, and inhabit councils, state and federal governments.
With ambition over substance, they don’t offer much vision, and rely on their charm to win over enough of the public so they can enter the hallowed ‘tent’ of governance.
Instead of challenging and bending the bureaucracy to work for those who elected them, ‘in the tent’ politicians see their job as being a willing cog in the machine. It’s a means to an end, so they can climb the political ladder.
As a result, we all suffer, because invariably no meaningful reform occurs, and the govcorp machine grinds onwards, with the interests of the governing and wealthy class trumping everyone elses.
While these political actor types seem to always disappoint, the media should also dig deep and look to where it can improve.
It’s a serious job being the interface between the public and the governing/wealthy class.
So – as editor, I regret running the page three story and photo in last week’s edition of Cr Asren Pugh.
It was born of frustration.
As a Mullum local, I am witnessing the trashing of the town I grew up in by this Council majority.
The hypocrisy question put to Cr Pugh is still valid, however, and remains unanswered.
The context is that he was the mover of two motions around developments at the June 22 Byron Council meeting.
One motion called for community inclusion in decision making by the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation (NRRC) with their ‘lands strategy’ (see page 5), while his other motion, on Council turning a busy Mullum car park into housing, did the opposite, as it was held behind closed doors.
In his letter on page 20, Cr Pugh attempts to deflect from the question, claiming all councillors voted for confidentiality in the second motion.
That’s just saying: ‘Hey, we are all as bad as each other!’
It’s irrelevant who voted for confidentiality – his name is on both motions.
Remarkably, he now says he is happy to discuss the issue publicly, while also having a sneer at Cr Duncan Dey’s ‘transparency’.
It’s terrific that Cr Pugh has a newfound sense of purpose, because transparency and honesty with the public has been lacking with other projects prior to this.
They include the pod villages, the rollout of the NRRC land strategy, and Council’s ‘affordable housing’ project, slated for the Mullum railway corridor.
Echo requests for information on the latest car park plans, with redacted tender amounts, were refused by GM Mark Arnold and Mayor Michael Lyon.
The only public information on this matter (which is selling public land to a developer) is being drip fed by the mayor, at his pleasure.
Unlike Council, The Echo is doing its best to inform the public of these developments, unfiltered from govcorp spin and secrecy.
Hans Lovejoy, editor
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. 
