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Premier Berejiklian in hot water Council Amalgam's (Read 756 times)
red baron
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Premier Berejiklian in hot water Council Amalgam's
Jul 26th, 2017 at 9:17am
 
Just another day in the chaotic Berejiklian Liberal Governent

NSW council mergers thrown into turmoil by court decision

Gladys Berejiklian, right, and Gabrielle Upton face claims of "procedural unfairness".
Gladys Berejiklian, right, and Gabrielle Upton face claims of "procedural unfairness". Michele Mossop

by  Geoff Winestock
The NSW Court of Appeal has dealt a potentially fatal blow to Premier Gladys Berejiklian's policy of forcing amalgamation of Sydney's blue ribbon local councils.

In a judgment critical of the NSW government's secretive tactics and "procedural unfairness", the court agreed with an appeal brought by Ku-ring-gai council on Sydney's upper North Shore and blocked a forced merger with neighbouring Hornsby.

The decision if it stands could also undermine forced mergers of about a dozen other councils including Woollahra, Randwick and Waverley and of Mosman and North Sydney. Many of them also have legal challenges on foot.

Ms Berejiklian had hoped to end the public anger over the council mergers last month when in one of her first acts she agreed to protect rural areas. That represented a major climb down from one of her predecessor Mike Baird's signature economic reform policies.
 
Six times greater

At the time Ms Berejiklian said she would drive forward with Sydney council merges because the financial benefits over the next 20 years would be six times great than in regional areas.

But the NSW Premier now faces the prospect that the divisive issue will drag on until state elections in 2019.

Property developers planning projects in the disputed councils will also face months or even years of uncertainty over whether their applications have been reviewed by a duly constituted authority.

The NSW Court of Appeal over-turned the merger largely on the grounds that the NSW government had failed to make public a report by consultants KPMG, which purportedly found that the merger would have financial benefits.
 
The NSW government only showed a short summary of the KPMG study to the body that the government appointed to make decisions on council amalgamations.

When Ku-ring-gai council denied there would be financial benefits from the merger and asked to see the whole report NSW refused arguing that it was a cabinet document that was protected by public immunity.

Procedural unfairness

Justice John Basten however dismissed the claim of public immunity and said the secrecy made it impossible for for the body to assess the merits of the merger or for Ku-ring-gai to present its case. "Absent any legal justification for withholding the documents, procedural unfairness was established."
 
Greens spokesman David Shoebridge said that the judgment would have broad consequences and set a precedent for pretty much every forced amalgamation proposal. "Every single one was based on a hidden consultancy report. " He called for the NSW government to scrap the amalgamations in Sydney just as it had in the bush.

The NSW Local Government Minister Gabrielle Upton said in a statement she was considering the judgment.
                  
Read more: http://www.afr.com/news/politics/nsw-council-mergers-thrown-into-turmoil-by-court-decision-20170327-gv777n#ixzz4nt7bu4n9
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bogarde73
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Re: Premier Berejiklian in hot water Council Amalgam's
Reply #1 - Jul 26th, 2017 at 1:17pm
 
You really don't like this state govt do you baron?
I've watched your tirades against them, seems like for years now.
The thing is, do you think a Labor govt would be better or worse?
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Know the enemies of a civil society by their public behaviour, by their fraudulent claim to be liberal-progressive, by their propensity to lie and, above all, by their attachment to authoritarianism.
 
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Black Orchid
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Re: Premier Berejiklian in hot water Council Amalgam's
Reply #2 - Jul 27th, 2017 at 9:06am
 
I can't stand this State Government either and could anyone do better?    I doubt they could do any worse.

Gladys repeatedly spat in the face of her constituents before she became Premier. She broke the promises she made to them and said "I cannot be seen to favour my own electorate".

Pfffttt  who does she think got her there?
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red baron
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Re: Premier Berejiklian in hot water Council Amalgam's
Reply #3 - Jul 27th, 2017 at 9:09am
 
Bogarde73...I do think a NSW Labor Government would do better because ANYTHING is better than this incompetent bunch of robbers that Govern now

I will take any and every opportunity to point out the absolute incompetence of Berejiklian and her cohorts
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Re: Premier Berejiklian in hot water Council Amalgam's
Reply #4 - Jul 28th, 2017 at 8:21am
 
red baron wrote on Jul 27th, 2017 at 9:09am:
Bogarde73...I do think a NSW Labor Government would do better because ANYTHING is better than this incompetent bunch of robbers that Govern now


Years of Tripodi, Obeid, Ian McDonald and others bleeding the state dry.

$300 million thrown away on a train line that was never started, Chatswood to Parramatta link half finished and too steep for Tangara trains to run on, tens of millions blown on T-card that was never implemented (despite 10+ years of trying), various other metro projects announced and then dumped

The abject failure of the Cross-City tunnel - despite Labor blocking side-roads to funnel traffic onto it

Various mysterious and convenient rezonings at several Labor-dominated councils

And despite presiding over a stamp duty boom themselves, we emerged from over 10 years of NSW Labor with almost nothing to show for it

Like hell I want that lot back
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red baron
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Re: Premier Berejiklian in hot water Council Amalgam's
Reply #5 - Jul 28th, 2017 at 8:36am
 
Try a Liberal Government that has directly caused power charges to rise to such alarming levels that people are doing without heating and food

Now that is what I call a MAJOR CRISIS!!!!
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