29 September 2008

“Do we have a Claytons Democracy...The downside to all this [voting] choice is that many votes ‘exhaust’ and do not aid in the election of anyone. This was the fate of 17,972 votes in the Shoalhaven Mayoral vote just decided. If we add to this number, the informal votes and the number of voters who just didn’t turn up, then the votes cast which actually determined the new Mayor of the Shoalhaven was a mere 52.6% of the 66,298 eligible voters. Paul Green was declared the winner with 19,953 formal votes after preferences, a tick over 30% of the electorate. In other words only one in two eligible voters actually took part in the determination of the Mayorship and the Mayor was elected by a definite minority of the electorate.” From The Tank personal blog: http://thetankonline.blogspot.com/ on 25 Sept 08. Read more...

26 September 2008

You make coffee all year round: “As the president of the Huskisson Chamber of Commerce, I feel that I have to reply to the condescending and patronising tone that C. Batchelor describes the ‘famous’ Huskisson Chamber of Commerce and Tourism in his letter dated September 22. Does he not realise that the New Year’s Eve fireworks he and hundreds of others enjoyed so much were organised by the Huskisson Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with Shoalhaven City Council?” From a Letter to the Editor, South Coast Register. Read more...

22 September 2008

Not the norm in politics at all: “Regarding R. Blundell’s letter (SCR Letters, September 15): I read the report of the Broadhurst/Watson event too and could have sworn it was Mrs Watson not liking to be competed with, not the other way round, as your words suggest. In any event, you sound like you accept Mrs Watson’s language and manner as being the norm for politics.” From a Letter to the Editor, South Coast Register. Read more...

Welcome to politics, Kate (SCR Letters 15 September 2008): “Oh my, oh my, poor little Kate Broadhurst (SCR, September 10). Fancy someone having a different opinion to that of the Shoalhaven Action Campaign (or is it Inaction Campaign?) and then complain when, oh my, someone speaks out against her. Welcome to politics, dear.” From a Letter to the Editor, South Coast Register. Read more...

17 September 2008

Time to end the petty bickering: “Who would have thought such hatred could exist in our small community of Huskisson (R. Blundell, SCR Letters, September 15)? Such hatred has evolved as a result of the divisive politics of our previous city council.” From a Letter to the Editor, South Coast Register. Read more...

15 September 2008

The challenges for Huskisson: (SCR Letters on 10 Sept) “Kate Broadhurst and the executive of the Huskisson Woollamia Community Voice have made a big issue as to Huskisson being referred to as a town or a village. Huskisson is Huskisson and Huskisson has, as always, some real challenges and decisions to face: traffic, public parking, town centre bypass, visual character, youth, more sustained activities moving away from day-trippers, attracting visitors to stay longer, provision for activities and tourists all year round, a more residential side to Huskisson CBD which will help to support local commerce, establishment of good office premises and health services, etc” From a Letter to the Editor, South Coast Register. Read more...

It’s a wipeout: Paul Green poised to become Mayor as voters vent their anger on Shoalhaven Independents Group and Greg Watson. In a result that sends a clear message about the electorate’s distrust of big-money politics at the local level, voters abandoned Greg Watson’s Shoalhaven Independents Group in favour of Paul Green in the mayoral race and Gareth Ward in the councillor contest. From the South Coast Register. Read more...

Green light: There was a clear message spelt out by Shoalhaven residents on polling day – it’s time for a change. The final results are yet to be revealed but the votes cast on Saturday have been counted and in an unexpected swing, candidate Paul Green received 13,015 votes, 32 per cent of the total. His closest competitor was found in Greg Watson, who polled 10,272 votes, while third place went to John Fergusson with 6338. Until the preferences are distributed it is too early to call the race, but the polling day count shows the community was clearly divided. From the South Coast Register. Read more...

Trio tarred with the same brush: (SCR Letters on 10 Sept) “Some months ago, in my position of president of the Huskisson Chamber of Commerce, I spoke out against the Shoalhaven Action Campaign and its published untruths about the chamber and for the effort received a threatening letter from its Sydney solicitors strongly suggesting we retract the statements. Why, we ask? Because we begged to differ, had an opposing opinion. Yet the Shoalhaven Action Campaign leaders and mayoral candidate continually discredit others and in some cases have been verbally abusive. Is this the type of people we really want for our future mayor?” From a Letter to the Editor, South Coast Register. Read more...

12 September 2008

History says it’s time for change: Australian political history shows that governing bodies tend to become arrogant, stale and out-of-touch after about eight years, and achieve little if re-elected beyond that (for example, the Hawke-Keating, Howard and Carr-Iemma governments). Greg Watson has been Shoalhaven’s mayor for eight years. It’s time for a change.

The need for change is urgent, given our council’s approval of wholly inappropriate developments at Huskisson, Ulladulla and Nowra. My concerns, as a Shoalhaven ratepayer and voter, started when the council approved the high-rise development above the estuary at Huskisson. The sacrifice of this unique view – that defines Huskisson – seems to me a very bad decision.

More recently, I’ve noted media reports and the concerns of Shoalhaven residents about the secrecy and possible illegality of the council’s decision-making on some developments. Clearly, Mayor Watson and the council are under increasing scrutiny from State authorities, local media and community groups. It seems to me that our council’s future is uncertain if we don’t substantially change its leadership and composition on Saturday.

This watershed election will define the direction of the Shoalhaven for the long term. Future council decision-making must balance commercial interests with the needs of the community and the environment. Bad decisions favouring commercial interests can seldom be reversed.

We’re fortunate that a number of high-calibre people are standing for mayor and council to bring about this change. I’m particularly impressed by mayoral candidates John Fergusson (Shoalhaven Action Campaign) and Dennis Argall, and by the strength of their commitment to integrity, honesty, transparency and accountability – elements essential to fair and proper government at every level of our democracy. From a Letter to the Editor, South Coast Register. Read more...

Council must follow the rules – Shoalhaven Action Campaign (SAC) Media Release

John Fergusson, who is standing as a Mayoral candidate in the Shoalhaven Council elections with the support of the Shoalhaven Action Campaign, has outlined the approach he would take as Mayor.

“It’s quite simple. Council must follow the rules – the rules laid down by the Local Government Act and the rules laid down in Council’s own policies.

“All too often we see the Minister for Local Government intervening because Council is breaching the Act. This seriously undermines Council’s leadership role and sets a poor example. It’s bad for the citizens and bad for potential investors in the City,” Mr Fergusson said.

“Council also have a poor record in following its own policies. Ad-hoc decision making and continual variation to policy do not provide any certainty. Council, generally, has good policies which need to be reviewed at regular intervals, such as every 5 years. They do not need to be undermined on a monthly basis.

“Should I be elected as Mayor I would ensure that Elected Council act like a board of directors and provide proper governance. There would be no interference in the day-to-day activities of professional staff as has been the case with the current Council. We will see a return to a Council that all can be proud of and I would support a forum for citizens to provide a regular review of Council’s performance.

10 September 2008

UNITED FRONT: Mayoral candidates urge voters to choose regime change In an unprecedented move, seven mayoral candidates have shown rare unity to call on the Shoalhaven electorate to depose the current regime at Saturday’s election. [Photo in link below] From left: Kylie Caldwell, John Finkernagel, John Fergusson, Paul Crisp, Paul Green, Richard Bates and Dennis Argall. The call came during a day of drama in which the Mayoress Robyn Watson was accused of intimidating and abusing a campaign volunteer from the rival Shoalhaven Action Campaign at the pre-poll booth at Bomaderry. “We are recommending people do not send any preferences to or vote for Greg Watson or the Shoalhaven Independents Group in the mayoral election on Saturday,” they said in a joint communique issued at lunchtime yesterday. “We seven believe Shoalhaven City Council needs new leadership.” From the South Coast Register. Read article with photo…

Are we flogging a dead horse? : “When I settled in the Shoalhaven in 1981, Greg Watson was the newly elected Mayor. Since that time, the Watson faction and latterly the Watson Party, the so-called Shoalhaven Independents Group, has held sway in this city. The 27 years have seen this Watson-dominated council involved in an increasing tempo of scandal, poor decision making, lack of consultation with the community it purports to serve and numerous examples of too-close-for-comfort associations between the Watson camp and developers who happen to be generous donors to the Watson cause. In my time I can remember, to name few, Mayor Watson’s public burning of the Aboriginal flag on National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Day 1982, numerous investigations of council’s conduct by the Department of Local Government and ICAC, secret council meetings becoming the norm rather than the exception and questionable deals with favoured developers, the Huscorp hotel fiasco being but the latest…” From a Letter to the Editor, South Coast Register. Read more...

No place for thuggish behaviour at the booth: There is no place for rude, abusive or intimidating behaviour at polling booths, no matter what party, individual or group you may support. Our democracy relies upon the freedom to cast a vote or disseminate election material without fear. When that freedom is impinged upon by abusive, intimidating or underhand behaviour, democracy itself is undermined....It may seem minor to some but once it becomes acceptable to hurl abuse at your opponents it quickly becomes acceptable to hurl rocks. Before you know it, our orderly system of democracy is totally undermined. Criticism is one thing, abuse quite another. And intimidation is simply not acceptable. People who resort to it must surely realise it does them no favours whatsoever. Voters are only repelled by such ugly displays of aggression. From an Editorial in the South Coast Register. Read more...

Barney at the booth: accusations fly: A volunteer handing out electoral material at the Bomaderry pre-poll has claimed she was the victim of verbal abuse by Robyn Watson, wife of Shoalhaven Mayor Greg Watson....Shoalhaven Action Campaign member Kate Broadhurst was volunteering at the pre-poll on Monday when she noticed a pamphlet for the Shoalhaven Independents Group and asked candidate Gary Lees if she could see it.

Mr Lees handed her the leaflet, only to have Mrs Watson rush over and snatch it from Ms Broadhurst’s hand. “Robyn Watson launched over and grabbed it, saying ‘Don’t give that bitch anything’,” she said. From the South Coast Register. Read more...

5 September 2008

Police Minister needs to see it for himself: Just what will it take for the NSW Government to hear – and act upon – the pleas from Bay and Basin residents to have a 24-hour police station established in the area? When the Police Minister himself denies having been told of the need for such a facility, despite the fact the local area commander has told him it is needed, local confidence in the Government’s capacity to listen is eroded even further. ..Minister Campbell, like many in the NSW Cabinet, needs to step out of his office and get down to Sanctuary Point, Huskisson, Vincentia, Basin View and St Georges Basin and hear it from the residents, who are rightly fed up. Once he has worked out whether they are angrier at the thugs and criminals who make their lives hell or at him for ignoring their pleas, he can then get down to the business of doing what he is supposed to do, rather than engaging in political point-scoring...From an Editorial in the South Coast Register. Read more...

3 September 2008

Act of hubris will only hurt Mayor: Politicians need to be very wary about trying to suppress adverse stories, particularly when it comes to legal threats involving injunctions and restraining orders. When Mayor Greg Watson sought to stop distribution of The New Bush Telegraph on Monday night because it carried negative coverage about himself and the conduct of the elected Shoalhaven City Council, he ensured many more people would seek actively seek out what is normally an obscure publication. And he has left himself open to accusations of using bullying tactics to suppress adverse reporting, much of which had already been aired in other mainstream media. From an Editorial in the South Coast Register. Read more...

The Winter/Spring 2008 edition of The New Bush Telegraph, mentioned in the article below, is available for download from the publications’s website: http://newbushtelegraph.net/ Alternatively click here.. to download a copy. Read for yourself the community newsletter that so concerned the Mayor that he threatened the publisher with a legal injunction.

Bid to Gag Paper - Mayor threatens injunction to silence bad news: Threats of legal action by Mayor Greg Watson have led a distributor to halt the delivery of the latest New Bush Telegraph newspaper. But the editor of the publication said claims of defamation were unfounded and he would not be adhering to demands made by Cr Watson’s lawyers. Distribution of the Winter/Spring edition of the community-based newspaper began on the weekend with the front-page headline “Council under investigation”. The article refers to the complaints against Shoalhaven City Council that led to the Department of Local Government (DLG) and Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) investigations. On Monday evening The New Bush Telegraph editor Patrick Thompson received a letter from Greg Watson, sent from his council email address. The email, marked confidential, stated Cr Watson’s lawyers would apply for an injunction against distributors Pinpoint Advertising. “I have further instructed that the newspaper copies in their possession be seized to prevent distribution by any other party pending the outcome of the matter, and further that all copies... be the subject of an order for destruction,” the email said. From the South Coast Register. Read more…

Election funding to be published: Campaign donations to ministers of parliament, political parties and elected councillors will today be made public by the NSW Election Funding Authority (EFA). Legislation taking effect last month forced candidates and elected officials to lodge a declaration by August 25, detailing campaign donations and expenditure....A false statement could lead to a one-year jail term. The declarations will be published online after 10.30am today at www.efa.nsw.gov.au From the South Coast Register. Read more...

Tall storeys from Mayor Watson: “I had to do a double-take over the Mayor Watson comment in Friday’s SCR in which he stated that “Council should develop site specific control plans for coastal villages other than Huskisson to ensure Gold Coast-style development can never happen.” How wonderful that Mayor Watson now agrees, by default, that Huskisson is a coastal village and therefore, according to NSW Coastal Planning Guidelines, should not have buildings higher than three storeys! ....And such terrific timing!” From a Letter to the Editor, South Coast Register. Read more...

1 September 2008

Our Ace Base: Pride and patriotism as young and old celebrate the 60th anniversary of HMAS Albatross: More than 650 uniformed personnel took part in Ceremonial Divisions on Friday to mark the diamond jubilee of Australia’s only Royal Australian Navy (RAN) air station. Even the rain did little to dampen the spirits of Navy personnel past and present as they gathered to take part in the milestone celebration. HMAS Albatross Commanding Officer, Captain Mark Sackley described the event as “very successful”, with the heritage of the base represented by many guests and the future personified by the youth on parade. “This is a significant milestone, a lot has happened in 60 years,” Capt Sackley said. “It was a pretty emotional experience to be a part of.” He said he was gratified to see veterans and members of the local Returned Services Leagues (RSL) among the crowds gathered for the ceremonies. From the South Coast Register. Read more...

Regime change for Shoalhaven: “..What has been evident in the Shoalhaven in recent years has been exploitation by political power against the weaker community. This has led to an exhaustive battle to have a community consultative body recognised, committees stacked against the community, their needs and wishes, and unaccounted and unexplained actions against the best interests of the community. This is appearing more and more like an authoritarian regime..” From a Letter to the Editor, South Coast Register. Read more...

Former mayor barracks for Green: Former Shoalhaven City Council Mayor Max Atkins has thrown his support behind mayoral hopeful Paul Green....“After I finished as mayor I never had anything to do with council elections in any tangible way,” he said. “But we have got to a situation now where we really need to do something.”

….“What worries me is that a lot of the policies responsible for making Shoalhaven the tourism Mecca it is are being undermined. “Unfortunately there tends to be a thing in the community and media that it’s development against non-development. That’s not the case whatsoever. It’s a matter of the style of development.” The reason tourists were drawn to the region was due to it having a certain character, he said, and in an effort to maintain that character council should avoid certain styles of development. “The Gold Coast is great, but we only need one. We should be making ourselves unique,” he said. ....Paul Green first approached Mr Atkins about two months ago, seeking his endorsement as the next mayor of the Shoalhaven. “I have watched him and always enjoyed his integrity,” Cr Green said. From the South Coast Register. Read more...

Record over nine years is very poor: “...Most of your readers would not be surprised given our high unemployment rate and the low socioeconomic status of our community, to find that the Shoalhaven rated 509 out of 590. By comparison our neighbours to the north, Kiama, rated 84th. It is worth reflecting on this at a time when we are coming up to a council election. Mayor Watson and the Shoalhaven Independents Group have governed the Shoalhaven for nine years and what have we got to show for it? Some depressing statistics, including one of the highest unemployment rates in the country…..We need a fresh approach and it is great to see John Fergusson and the Shoalhaven Action Campaign focusing on strategies for manufacturing and service industries to provide long-term sustainable growth and employment opportunities for the Shoalhaven.” From a Letter to the Editor, South Coast Register. Read more...

Cost-benefit is the question: “I have just read a letter published in this paper which has been written by the owner of a business establishment in Huskisson. He is telling us to beware of the policies of the Shoalhaven Action Campaign. The business establishment is in the main street of Huskisson and, as part of its contribution to the streetscape of this beautiful village, are three skips, big rubbish bins”. From a Letter to the Editor, South Coast Register. Read more...

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