Dubbo Local Government Conference- Success on small issues

I am a bit behind in sharing this little gem, but thought I would post it anyway.

Each year the Local Government Association NSW holds a conference which sets the policy direction and lobby points for the association for the year ahead. The Shires also turn up so its an interesting mix of City, Regional, Rural and normally attracts around 600+ folk- a third of which are voting delegates.

On the last Shoalhaven City Council, Liberal Councillor now State MP Gareth Ward always did his best to make sure I had no voting rights even though Shoalhaven Council has four votes- he tried to get all his mates the votes to help push the Conservatives agenda through as many organisations as possible.

The Liberals were successful at driving a One Association agenda- which isn't all bad except that they have made the voting system for that impossibly conservative and with no accountability for the first 12 months of the One Associations life- but that's a different story.

This story starts at Shoalhaven Council were I brought up a number of issues that were not supported at a Council level.

1, Asking the NSW Government to revoke all expired Coal Seam Gas Explorations licenses and committing to proper community consultation before reissue- This motion FAILED at Shoalhaven Council.

2. Requesting NSW Gov to conduct a risk assessment prior to proceeding with their Shooting in National Parks proposal and committing further funds to feral animal control- FAILED in Shoalhaven.

3. Referring the PlasBak silage wrap recycling programme for inclusion in Waste and Sustainability funding- WIN in Shoalhaven.

I was surprised when Ward and Co didn't try and kick the motions out before they even made it to Conference, but then they probably thought -Oh well they are the next Councils problems not ours!

When conference supported the Coal Seam Gas and PlasBak motions with only a few dissenting voices I was nicely surprised- The shooting in national parks motion was referred to the executive- so not entirely lost.

Buoyed by the success of a couple of motions I tried to pass some amendments- which really should have been addendum's and didn't receive support.

All in all I felt that I had a constructive time at the conference even though the chair was lousy and the news from the guest speakers for the gathered Councillors was all doom and gloom in regards to amalgamations and planning reforms.

Of course one of the highlights was catching up with Greens Councillors from around the State and getting to know the newly elected ones. It was also nice to make contact with Councillors from Wollongong so hopefully we can work together on progressive regional issues.

I always wonder why government is so behind and hasnt caught up with the sentiment of the people and sometimes its no different in local politics.