Shadow Minister for Local Government Peter Primrose and Campbelltown MP Greg Warren have joined calls for the NSW Government to reimburse Campbelltown City Council the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on holding last Saturday’s by-election.
“Local residents are being double stung – first they lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in council rates paying for the by-election, and now NSW Government could rake in over $1.5 million by fining residents that didn’t know they had to vote,” Mr Warren said.
“It was the government’s failure to implement its own legislation that forced us to a by-election in the first place, so it’s simply not fair for local ratepayers to have to pick up the bill.
“The Premier and the Minister for Local Government must use the revenue collected from fines issued to those who didn’t vote to reimburse Council, rather than trying to profit from the Government’s incompetence at the expense of local residents.”
Mr Warren has today written to the Minister for Local Government, calling on the NSW Government to use the revenue from fines issued to those residents who did not vote at the by-election to reimburse Campbelltown City Council for the cost of holding the by-election, which has been estimated to be as high as $600,000.
In November 2014, the NSW Parliament passed legislation enabling local councils to opt for a countback rather than a by-election for a casual vacancy within the first 18 months of a council term.
The legislation passed with bipartisan support, however in the two years since the legislation was passed the Liberal Government has failed to implement the necessary regulations to facilitate countbacks, forcing residents in the Campbelltown Local Government Area back to the polls last weekend to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Councillor Fred Borg.
“This is yet another example of the NSW Liberal Government’s incompetence in the administration of local government in NSW,” said Mr Primrose, a former Campbelltown mayor.
“The ratepayers of Campbelltown are being left hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket because the NSW Liberal Government has been sitting on its hands for more than two years and has failed to implement its own legislation.
“Whether it’s botched council amalgamations or failing to implement its own legislation, the Berejiklian Government is failing local councils across the state,’’ he said.
I think labor and Community First should foot the bill for putting up candidates instead of letting Gary Potts take the seat in memory of Fred Borg.
Just hand someone a seat? I don’t think thats fair at all. I have Voted for Fred for a very long time and I’m glad we got to vote. Clearly Gary wasn’t the favourite. Look at the results.