Letter to the Editor: The case for a referendum ‘No’ vote Opinion Property/Sports/Opinion - popup ad by News Of The Area - Modern Media - August 18, 2024 DEAR News Of The Area, AT the local government election to be held on Saturday 14 September, a referendum concerning the number of councillors to be appointed to Port Macquarie-Hastings Council will also be held. It will ask for a reduction in councillor numbers from the current nine to seven. Local ALP branches urge voters to vote ‘No’ to this question. The reasons are many. The number of councillors and therefore the ratio of electors to councillors has implications for the quality of representation and functioning of a council. If the number is reduced the amount of diversity, range of experience, knowledge, and skills available to the council’s governing body would be reduced. The workload of councillors will increase. A reduction of two councillors would only save a total of $60,000. Our local government area is not only experiencing high population growth right now but will continue to do so. Currently the ratio of our residents per councillor is 9,621. If the referendum is passed it will come into force in 2028 and by then this ratio will be increased to at least 12,369 per councillor. This would be one of the highest ratios of all regional councils and greater than all but a few metropolitan councils where 86 percent of them have nine or more councillors. A reduction of councillors represents a threat to the democratic functioning of the council. While one of the points for the referendum on the Council’s website states that fewer councillors would mean greater cohesion, the current lack of cohesion is largely due to the agenda of the dominating group that has taken precedence over motions and amendments put by those councillors not belonging to this major group that have been incessantly voted against as have the outcomes of community consultation processes, a recent one being the future management of the Pilot Station Reserve at Dunbogan. This is not democracy at work and is not in the broader interest of residents. Reducing councillors is a high-risk situation that we simply can’t afford. Regards, Hamish TUBMAN, Secretary, Camden Haven Branch of the ALP.
