Yesterday’s Extraordinary Meeting to discuss a rescission motion over Ballina’s ward boundaries saw new positions and lots of strong language from councillors, but no ultimate change in the result from the previous meeting.
The rescission motion was moved by Cr Phil Meehan, seeking to return to Ballina Council staff’s original suggestion of minor changes to the ward boundaries, rather than the more significant boundary changes proposed by Cr Rod Bruem.
Cr Meehan suggested the arguments put forward during previous debate about confusion of some residents about which ward they lived in were spurious, and not the real reasons for the debate. ‘I’ll just say they’re not correct,’ he said. ‘I think that’s a fact rather than just an opinion.’
He said the changes proposed by Cr Bruem and supported by the mayor and others would affect 2,500 electors, and render the balance of population between the wards (which are supposed to be equal) more inequitable, not less. ‘You go out in the street and tell me if people will think that makes sense,’ said Cr Meehan. ‘It doesn’t make any sense at all.’
He then pointed out that the proposed change would soak up operational time of council staff and cost more, as it would require new work, consultation, communication and so on.
Rod Bruem’s view
Cr Rod Bruem responded by saying Cumbalum was more logically connected to Ballina than Lennox, and that the geographical boundaries made more sense than lines drawn between houses.
He also claimed that future anticipated growth in the revised wards would equalise the growing populations, and save the process from needing to be done again in the near future.
He said he was ‘puzzled’ about the whole controversy until he read an Echo article containing comments from Cr Kiri Dicker suggesting the new boundaries were ‘politically motivated gerrymandering’ designed to advantage Mayor Sharon Cadwallader and disadvantage Cr Jeff Johnson.
Cr Bruem took great offence at this idea, saying it was a conspiracy ‘up there with Harold Holt disappearing off the beach and a Chinese sub. It’s that crazy,’ he declared.
He then claimed he had ‘no idea’ Cr Johnson lived in Cumbalum until he read the Echo article that day, in spite of the fact that Cr Johnson’s association with the area is regularly raised in council meetings.
Cr Johnson did not respond to this, but asked the mayor how such a last-minute change to the boundaries, including a new exhibition period, could possibly be accommodated by the government deadline of 5 October? Mayor Cadwallader said it was possible, with a three-week extension.
‘Out of left field’
Cr Johnson then suggested Cr Bruem’s motion to significantly change the boundaries had come ‘out of left field’, after community consultation had ended and letters had already gone out to affected residents.
‘The reasoning behind this, apparently, is to reduce confusion. It’s just going to add a lot more,’ he said.
‘It seems like a waste of money. There’s no real point in doing this,’ added Cr Johnson, noting that the inequities between the ward sizes as a result would actually go up, from five to eight per cent, ‘so it’s more likely that we’re going to have to change the boundaries again at the next election.’
He said the rescission motion should be supported, which would mean returning to the original staff recommendation over boundaries.
After more questions from councillors, GM Paul Hickey clarified that councillors could recommend boundary changes, but the ultimate decision would be made by the Electoral Commission.
More expensive
The GM made it clear that Cr Bruem’s approach would cost more than the alternative. ‘Let’s not muck around, there’s a clear difference in costs,’ said Mr Hickey. ‘I’m not here to play politics. I’m here to tell you the facts. That’s the fact of the matter.’
Cr Kiri Dicker said Cr Bruem had stolen her thunder, but she was happy to be quoted and stood by her published comments. ‘I reiterate that it’s my belief that people aren’t being honest about their motivations here,’ she said.
Cr Bruem strongly objected to this, and Mayor Cadwallader asked Cr Dicker to withdraw her comment, because she was ‘casting aspersions’.
Cr Dicker immediately withdrew, but was then interrupted again by the mayor, who apparently hadn’t heard. After more interruptions, Cr Dicker said there was an ‘absence of any logical rationale’ for changing the ward boundaries.
‘I’m left to wonder what really is the true motivation behind this, and the reality is that councillors in this chamber have gone to great lengths to prevent people from being elected, and to influence election results.’
Crs Bruem and Cadwallader strongly objected to this comment as well. Eventually Cr Dicker managed to complete her statement in support of the rescission. ‘We should leave the boundaries as per the staff recommendation,’ she said.
‘I don’t get it’
Cr Nigel Buchanan, who was elected as part of Sharon Cadwallader’s team, said ‘I don’t get it’, adding that he supported simple geographical ward boundaries and was ‘too daft’ to have any deeper political motives. He said he would vote against the rescission motion.
Cr Eoin Johnston then said he would reverse his earlier position and vote for the rescission motion, although he was usually opposed to doing this on principle.
‘I think most people work out the boundaries well before they have to go to the booth,’ he said, apart from those who have no interest in politics.
Cr Johnston said that after reading all the documents it was clear that the original recommendation of council staff was the way to go, considering the population changes across the shire. ‘It’s a dynamic situation though,’ he said, ‘And I suspect in the next term it will have to be revisited.’
Mayor Sharon Cadwallader laughed off the suggestion that the whole thing had anything to do with which ward she was living in, and didn’t address the Cumbalum boundary issue, which Cr Dicker has alleged will disadvantage Cr Johnson.
‘I just cannot believe that it’s become such an issue that a rescission motion had to be lodged over it,’ said Mayor Cadwallader. ‘You have to wonder why.’
What followed was an unusually intense exchange between the mayor and GM Paul Hickey, with each asserting that they had done the right thing in spite of receiving contradictory legal advice, and the GM providing evidence that staff had worked hard to deliver what was asked of them by councillors, despite time and other pressures.
All this was cut short by councillors apparently anxious to go home, who brought forward the vote on the motion.
Cr Phil Meehan said that if the ward boundaries in Ballina and Cumbalum were ‘no big deal’, as had been suggested by some, then why not stick with staff suggestions re minor changes, affecting 500-600 people, instead of 2,500?
Inappropriate
He said that significant changes after public exhibition were normally due to public feedback, not new input from councillors, as in this case.
‘I don’t think that’s appropriate,’ said Cr Meehan. ‘We should have had our act together.’
Addressing the ward confusion issue, he said, ‘There will always be confusion. I could go out into River Street now and walk up to people and say which ward are you in? If I got more than one out of ten being able to give me the correct answer, I’d be surprised.’
Cr Meehan said it was a mistake to make a ‘significant change’ after exhibition had concluded, with an unknown cost, and with Electoral Commission deadlines looming. ‘I just ask you to support the rescission motion and go back to the original recommendation.’
The vote was then taken. The rescission motion went down with only four votes in support and Crs Cadwallader, Buchanan, Ramsey, McCarthy, Bruem voting against it. Cr Simon Chate was absent from the Extraordinary Meeting.
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