THE FIRST MISSILE LAUNCH (audit Armageddon for Local Councils)

It all seems serene, a symbolic front cover of the ‘West Weekend’ magazine with Shire President, David Wallace, an emblematic ‘White Rose of York’ amid a sea of gold-tipped canola.

For the first time in a long time there is a positive overall picture and story on the town of York itself- and its future.

The apt title is ‘Field of Dreams’ rather than nightmares about the ghosts of the past like ‘The town where time stands still’ featuring the Town Hall clock once permanently stuck on 5 minutes to midnight, and ‘Chainsaw Massacre’ on the fall of a mighty Fichus and other Shire inspired arboreal desecration.

Locals are now investing in their own town.

In years gone by it was entrepreneurs from the city, with at least one having a stint at Her Majesty’s Pleasure for tax evasion.

Local venture capitalization by members of the community is by far the most positive development for York in its pilloried local government, post bellum era.

Now come the potential storm clouds hiding behind a silver lining.

Time and time again letters were sent to Mr. Colin Murphy demanding that the auditing procedures of certain councils be investigated where money was being ill-spent or mysteriously disappearing. The response was that the ‘Auditor General’ had no remit to scrutinize the expenditure of ‘government monies’ for which there is actually no known meaning through any dictionary definition.

It was assumed that it meant rates raised by, and government loans and grants received by Local Government Councils to spend on essential community services.

Actually, it is parliamentary pecuniary patois to cover a multitude of current, inept financial expenditure regulations and their associated sins.

Now after an interminable delay the penny has finally dropped and Local Government Area ‘government monies’ are no longer sacrosanct and immune from ‘best practice’ audit procedures.

Too many councils are at extreme risk in their finance management and too much public financial hardship endured through massive domestic rate loadings above Gross Rental Value caused by what is laughingly called ‘council mistakes’.

Then  there was the hiring of private accounting companies to provide financial year audits where the service provider may be inveigled by a particular council to ‘gloss-over’ financial discrepancies and signs of mismanagement.

One example is maybe when a Local Government Shire Council owns and operates a commercial business.

Its haphazard monthly stocktake/ financial reports consist mainly of and/or a reliance on till transactions which are now to be monitored by CCTV. (Some documents cannot be found or do not exist.)

Monthly stock purchasers may include amber liquid in 6 different keg varieties and 26 packaged options. Some so exotic they are only known to the avid connoisseur.

There are certainly many labels to suit a multitude of tastes, but certainly no purchases in sufficient volumes to give any economy of scale. It’s the options you might not even be given in a five-star bar.

Could a case be put forward in future for a special audit given the above? The answer is more than likely!

So what ignited the State Government-to- Local Government Exocet audit missile- and saw it launched?.

The Director General of the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, Duncan Ord, has informed All Local Governments that the WA Auditor General will now audit all local government finances and performance.

The required amendments to the Local Government Act 1995 received Royal Assent on September 1, 2017.

The Auditor General will commence liaising with local governments in October, 2017, advising them of performance audits that will examine the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of their programs and organizations to ensure full compliance with legislative provisions and internal policies.

In future the Shire of York must publish its annual report, including the annual financial report and the auditor’s report as a full public disclosure on its official website to allow ratepayers to judge its performance.

This may see any new Councillor elected on October 21, 2017 engaged in a mad scramble to ensure that the Shire of York Administration has the required facts and figures to meet an upcoming, far more invasive audit experience.

It may just be the precursor to an even more serious transfer of power and impunity, from local government back to the WA State Government after the 2018 Local Government Act, 1995, Review.

All councils and councillors must be aware of this and take any necessary precautions to face a possibly vastly different and far less amenable Local Government Act, 2019 .

David Taylor.

BEYOND WASTING WORDS- IT’S BEYOND BELIEF!

(Why didn’t the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) bother to visit the Sita/SUEZ site?)

It is not just this Allawuna proposal but the lack of principle involved, where objections based on known scientific facts and anticipated community angst are still being ignored, so Perth rubbish can be dumped in a beautiful country backyard.

The rationale of job creation compared to the potential environmental damage does not compute.

It also really nice to know that the voice of country people appears to go unheard in the hallowed halls of Parliament House and at the EPA and SAT, with any muted ministerial responses being you are contacting the wrong department, even when you know you are not.

The EPA’s current board (that protects very little) is made up of a Professor from Utah, USA, two long-term public servants, with all the baggage it entails, an investment banker and a lawyer. It begs the question how many of these do you need to screw in a lightbulb or protect flora, fauna, its habitat and the environment with actual integrity?

Like the EPA, based on past performance, SAT is no better.  It is made up of a ubiquitous argument of layers,(more than you can count on both hands) an accountant, a psychologist, an architect and a social worker. Not an environmental scientist in sight. The closet would be an urban planner and a midwife.

These two so-called Independent Agencies are, in the end, anything but. ‘Independent’ means ‘self-sufficient’ and ‘self-sustaining’, yet both rely totally on WA Government hand-outs and when push-comes-to-shove subjugate themselves to the government’s bidding. (Their decisions can be overruled by governments’ anyway.)

There is an understanding that the Shire of York continuously failed to monitor what was occurring regarding this highly contentious project since SUEZ backed away, and its public response to date could be considered amateurish and apathetic.

It also seems a little strange that, apparently, only one Shire of York Council candidate out of seven has publically prioritized environmental protection as an important part of a required, future council agenda.

Recently letters registering dissent have been sent to Paul Martin, David Wallace, Mark McGowan, Rita Saffioti and Stephen Dawson and kind assistance sought from the Catholic Archbishop of Perth and Greens WA. All have been published on the Shire of York Official Unofficial Website along with numerous articles dating back to when the saga first began.

Below you will read ‘Questions on Notice’ that hopefully will be used in State Parliament to debate the relevant Minister’s knowledge of his portfolio and his commitment to protecting the environment from pollution. The questions are based on known facts, verified by a local community member who should know, cannot be easily refuted and raise the issue of the inherent dangers of dumping massive amounts of pollutants, transported along a narrow country road.

David Taylor.

                                                             QUESTIONS ON NOTICE

Date Compiled ………………………………. to the Minister……………………………………

There is a proposed landfill site by Alkina Holdings Pty Ltd, being Great Southern Landfill of Lot 4869 on Plan 224502 in Certificate of Title Volume 285, Folio 784 at St. Ronan’s York. So I ask the Minister the following:-

1. what is the risk of leachate and other pollutants, including the possible storage of Crocidolite Asbestos fibres, contaminating the Mundaring Weir Catchment Area, areas such as St. Ronan’s Well and Conservation Area (WA Government Heritage Commission Listing 04429), local fresh ground water such as at St. Ronan’s Well itself and attendant water courses, creeks and river systems?

2. what assurance and absolute protection is to be provided to prevent the contamination of surrounding valuable, finite, highly productive agricultural land including under the Australian Government Biodiversity Act 2015 in accordance with, but not limited to, its export compliance regulations regarding contaminated agricultural goods?

3. what absolute protection is guaranteed against catastrophic breaching of this landfill site by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake, creating a 3 metre high fault line, 40 kilometres in length which occurred approximately 40 kilometres from this site 49 years ago?

4. what viable and adequate emergency contingency plans will be put in place to minimize any environmental, property and personal damage to those properties and persons located within a radius of a minimum of 10 kilometres of the site in case of any breech and who will pay for the implementation of these plans and any infrastructure required including forms of risk insurance, now and in the future?

5. what is the current traffic volume for both private and commercial vehicles using the Great Southern Highway between The Lakes and St. Ronan’s?

6. what will be the weekly volume of Alkina Holdings Pty Ltd waste management vehicles and their tonnage using what is considered to be, by its users and the Former Premier, Colin Barnett and the former Minister for Water and the Member for Central Wheatbelt, Mia Davies, as a possibly dangerous, narrow, winding road, potentially unsuitable for large increases in heavy haulage traffic movements?

7. what has been the death and serious injury toll on the Great Southern Highway, between The Lakes and St. Ronan’s since 2001.

8. why did neither the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) visit the proposed site personally to make themselves better aware of the location, its surrounding farmland area, its biodiversity, location of watercourses and the surrounding environs including habitat and its flora and fauna?

GENESIS 2017 (York Council Election Vox Populi.)

Briefing notes. The press comment by the Minister for Local Government, David Templeman, that Local Government Councillors include many who are male, pale and stale should not pass without a response. Minister Templeman should realize that this in an apt description of numerous State and Federal politicians.

The following is fact- not comment, or fiction. Minister Templeman is not fool enough to disparage councillors without having a covert agenda!

For all of us who wish to become Councillors in a rural shire, the job will not be easy as there is a bigger picture involved. But it will still be worthwhile.

In 2013 the WA State Government wanted to reduce the number of Perth councils from 30 to 15. It was assumed that such amalgamation would lead to economies of scale including a reduction in the number of councillors, council staff and a scaling back in duplication of local government services.

Records show that at this time there were 138 Local Government Areas in WA, being 35% of all LGA’s in Australia, representing just 11% of the nation’s total population.

The reason for this large number of LGA’s, established during  the 19^th and 20^th century,  was to ensure local government area coverage and representation over an area, 1/3^rd the size of the Australian continent.

However some felt that this was too costly, on a per capita basis, with small shire councils’ competing to retain medical services and other infrastructure required for their towns to survive.

In 2014 there were 34 rural, regional and remote Shire Council electorates in WA with a total population of 19,682 at an average of 576 per-shire.

This was an argument used by those who wished to reduce the number of rural and remote shire councils. 

The oldest of these particular shire electorates’ was founded in 1871, the youngest 1948, with the average being 1900 AD.  At that time the average was 114 years old, going back 5 generations with an emotive, historical timeline of strong, filial relationships in each electorate.

This was one argument why they should all be retained.

Previous socio-economic analyses suggested that Shire Council’s with this population demographic may not be economically sustainable and should be formed into Regions of Councils (ROC’s) when there was a common socio-economic link.

It was suggested that a number of the other 74 councils outside Perth, with populations above 1,000, but not much more, may also face certain problems of financing and community services delivery.

It is believed that former National Party Leader, Brendon Grylls, refused to countenance forced amalgamation of rural, regional and remote shires. His intention may well have been to use Royalties for Regions funding, where necessary, to prevent this.

Prior to the 2013 State Election the Nationals held the balance-of-power in the Legislative Assembly and the State had a AAA Credit Rating. Now neither exists,

The two major political parties, Labor and Liberal, are both city-centric in political
persuasion as they know where most voters live.

Both usually make their most unpopular decisions in the first 18 months of their incumbency.

The Labor Government is now over 6 months into its term in office, has a projected State Debt of $43.6 billion by 2020-21 and will not be financially propping-up Shire councils with any Royalties for Regions funding.

Shire Councillors were, and are the Boards of Management of a town and its surrounds (a manifold style of business), with the community being the shareholders of this business. It is a long time since shires were only mandated to fill in pot-holes and collect rubbish.

The role now extends through socio-economic development including health care, supporting tourism marketing, promotion and servicing, domestic and commercial land release, negotiating the provision of Headwork for water electricity, and gas, liquor supply management, creating and enforcing building codes, the provision of other expensive community facilities and protecting the local environment.

It is on public record that, in certain cases, the business acumen of some Shire Council elected members and their administrative staff can fall short of the skills required to cover such a diverse management profile- and some council’s trade close to insolvency.

The state’s serious economic situation may result in creating a financial vacuum for LGA’s with WA Local Government Grants Commission funding static and falling (in real terms) for some years to come.

The promised 2018 Review of the Local Government Act, 1995 will be cathartic.
A peripheral result could be a fresh call for a reduction in the state’s massive number of LGA’s when compared to the rest of the country, with the small rural and remote shires potentially a prime target.

Other investigations will include gaining the ability to sack (or heavily fine) individual councillors, tighter strictures on the acceptance of gifts and an increase in the performance criteria for a raft of administrative responsibilities including probity and fiscal accountability.

As stated, Local government Councillors have been accused by the State Government of being intrinsically male, pale and stale with a threat of salaries and allowances being slashed if their training and qualifications do not meet required standards.

The Shire of York ratepayers have to choose three Councillors to represent them through a dramatic 4-year period where there will be a ballooning state deficit of up to $43 billion.

Ratepayers will have to assess whether the three incumbent members, up for re-election, have met their obligations as councillors and have performed up to community expectations.

Otherwise the choice is three of four new candidates with their various credentials who may be more suitable in ensuring the Shire of York moves forward positively.

Whatever the choice it must be to ensure that the York community is the beneficiary of a council membership it trusts and can be relied upon to ensure the integrity and competence of its administration.

Also, as both individuals and as a team, all are fully aware of the potential for turbulent external influences that could make being a councillor a tougher assignment than it was in the past.

David Taylor/ Candidate for Shire of York Council.

FAIR FOR ALL. SHIRE OF YORK COUNCIL/ WA LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS 2017

I have nominated as a candidate for a seat on the Shire of York Council at the election to be held on October 21, 2017.

Should I be elected, I would like everyone to know that I will be cooperative, collaborative and use my best endeavours to be an effective member of Council on behalf of the York community.

As required by the WA Electoral Commission rules, I will no longer be making any public, personal comment as an author of articles on The Shire of York Official Unofficial  Social-Media website regarding the Shire of York in particular and local government in general.

On request, I originally decided to write for this website to provide a different, essentially unbiased, objective summation of local council performance to ensure an informed public perception of local government business and its administration, unencumbered by any allegiance or influences.

Local Government Councillors and councils do have a varied and difficult community improvement assignment to deal with- that is becoming more important as the 21^st Century progresses.

I thank all of you who have taken the time to read these columns, whether you have agreed with their content or not.

I am particularly proud of revealing significant differences in Local Government Area domestic property rating that will be scrutinized in the 2018, Local Government Act 1995, Review.

It will include investigating the system of imposition and collection of domestic and commercial rates and the additional fees and charges that should provide fair and equitable finance modelling for the future based on long term, economic projections.

Currently I do not live in York because of a close family commitment, but my family home is here.

The fact that I reside in Perth, and am involved in direct communications within in the state political arena,  where most unilateral decisions are made regarding local government areas and their administration, may have some future benefits to Council.

It provides for the opportunity to develop a spatially aware, holistic and focussed perspective of new local government initiatives as they occur and how they may impact on individual, rural Shire councils.

The skills I could bring to the Council table are positive community communications, political, constitutional, and local government governance research and knowledge, corporate business acumen and expertise in what could best be defined as locality tourism.

I am providing to you a candidate endorsement, written by a former colleague that will be testified to by WA experts in the fields of communications strategy, Tony Barrass, former WA Editor of The Australian, considered Australia’s most prestigious daily newspaper and, Stephen Scourfield, acknowledged as Australia’s leading Travel Editor and journalist covering state, national and global tourism for two decades.

Should I be elected I look forward to working closely with you and my fellow councillors.

Yours sincerely
David Taylor.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTION CANDIDATE ENDORSEMENT - on behalf of David Taylor

I believe David Taylor to be an ideal candidate for a seat on the Shire of York Council at the WA Local Government Elections to be held on October 21, 2017. Mr Taylor is fairly unique through his vast array of personal experiences and employment accomplishments.

One example is as an internationally known Photo-Journalist he was the only Australasian media representative to cover the Miss Universe Contest Final in Seoul, South-Korea, in July, 1980.

He spoke out strongly to the South-Korean media about the recent disappearance of hundreds of young students during the Gwangju Uprising six weeks prior to the event being held. This led to him being offered a tour of the Korean Demilitarized Zone by the South Korean Intelligence Service by way of explanation for the deaths of these young, local military government and Anti-US protestors.
Mr. Taylor declined and was then assaulted by South-Korean Military Police for an alleged breach of a Martial Law curfew, resulting in him being escorted to and deported from Gimpo Airport by the South Korean Government straight after the pageant concluded.

Mr Taylor was one of a limited number of press representatives who covered the infamous Birnie serial killer investigations and viewed the graves of their victims. He has covered countless other traumatic, confronting events involving loss of human life including cyclones, aircraft and motor vehicle accidents and murders. He was also selected to cover national Special Air Service (SAS) war exercises in remote areas, putting his own life at some risk on night flying exercises requiring infiltration by parachute. He survived a military helicopter crash in arid desert country and became a member of the exclusive, international ‘Chopper-Cropper Club’.

This type of Curriculum Vitae may appear inconsequential and incongruous but gives credence to his ability to reject and face up to fear, threat and intolerance. Along with his strong character and resilience these should be some of the attributes required by a modern day Shire Councillor. The others are business experience and acumen and knowledge of state and local government governance and its processes.

Mr Taylor has been a Parliamentary Research Officer covering all aspects of Avon Valley and York constituent affairs. He has owned and managed a 4.5 star Bed & Breakfast near Northam giving him a strong insight in problems facing tourism in this area. He has sat on the ‘The West Australian’ newspapers Editorial Board of Management, the Northam Tourist Bureau, Essential Personnel (assisting people with disabilities to obtain mainstream employment) and the York 175^th Anniversary Committee. Mr Taylor also took up the role of interim President of the Northam Branch of the WA Liberals to ensure the survival of the branch. Recently he has authored numerous social-media articles in an attempt to highlight anomalies in local government legislation and the impact it has on rural local government areas such as the Shire of York, and the future of its community.

As a person, and a potential Local Government Councillor, I have no hesitation in recommending David Taylor as someone well suited to represent the ratepayers of the Shire of York and the local community at large.

Stephen Scourfield, Travel Editor, Australian Tourism Award Winner and acclaimed Novelist.
Tony Barrass, former Editor, Production Editor and expert Communications Strategist

REVIEW OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1995- IN 2018, TO IMPROVE PUBLIC CONFIDENCE

The act was legislated in the last Century before the iPhone, iPod, SKYPE, Facebook and You Tube and 23-years will have passed before any changes are made.

It was designed in the time of a Labor Government with Geoff Gallop, Premier, and Ljiljana Ravlich, the Minister for Local Government.

So it is now considered to be in need of modernisation to meet contemporary, fair and reasonable, ratepayer and local community expectations.

The current Minister, David Templeman, is still in favour of encouraging Local Government Areas (LGA), including York, to take responsibility for their own actions and learn by identifying their own mistakes.

However to assist LGA’s in their improvement, a review will be undertaken targeting important matters including online reporting of information, the receipt of gifts, and other necessary reforms to meet 21^st Century community expectations  regarding LGA standards, ethics and performance.

This has been called ‘Phase 1’ and a consultative paper for public comment is expected to be made available in November 2017.

‘Phase 2’ has the agenda of increasing local community participation in local government, including improving public confidence in local government elections, increased local community participation in decision making processes and improved financial management.

The area of financial management review will include the examination under the terms of the way LGA’s raise revenue-including rates, fees and charges.

No comment has been made or will be made regarding other paragraphs in this communication.

Mr. Paul Martin, CEO the Shire of York, has been provided with the letter, in toto, by Minister Templeman

David Taylor.

WAIT AND SEE WHAT IS HOLY. (What will the ‘Holy See’ say?)

St. Ronan’s Well and Allawuna Farm.

A letter has been sent to the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Perth enquiring what the Church considers to be the importance of a historic site named in honour of a Patron Saint.

Saint Ronan is the Irish Patron Saint of Pilgrims and venerated as such.

Pilgrims are those who travel because of their belief in something important to them, mainly spiritual, but also in search of a new life.

The first travellers to York, both the early explorers, then settlers, where looking for a new beginning, a possible Garden of Eden to save the Swan River Colony from potential extinction.

They could be considered ‘Pilgrims’ in the sense of the word. This may well have been the reason why a fresh-water spring, giving refreshment to weary travellers, was called St. Ronan’s Well.

Added to this, it was supposed to have been visited by an iconic pilgrim of the Catholic Church in Western Australia, Bishop Salvado, the founder of the New Norcia Monastery, after being brought to the colony by the First Bishop of the Diocese of Perth, John Brady.

Bishop Salvado is venerated both in WA, where there is a statue in his honour at his monastery, and in Spain, in his hometown of Tui.

The name and the visit of such a historically important Church figure could be an ecclesiastical positive for this site where the limestone wall construction was completed around 185-years-ago. It is thought to have been visited by Bishop Salvado in 1846.

Therefore the question has been raised does the Church consider this site to be of such significance that it wishes to ensure that an 1830 relic, named after a Saint, will not be environmentally damaged by a massive 21^st Century waste disposal site?

Hopefully there will be a positive answer.

David Taylor.

LETTER

September 11, 2017
Most Reverend Timothy Costello
Archbishop of Perth
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Perth

Your Grace

Your Ref: -                                     ST. RONAN’S WELL, YORK.

You would be aware that Saint. Ronan is a Patron Saint of Irish Pilgrims.

You may not be aware that a historic, clear-water spring, St. Ronan’s Well, was named in his honour.

It was used by the early settlers travelling to York. First named in 1830, its stone-lined walls were completed in 1832.

It is believed that Bishop Dom Rosendo Salvado Rotea visited the site in the mid 1840’s when looking for a suitable place to build his monastery. He chose New Norcia instead.

The site was Historically Listed in 1996 by the Government of WA Heritage Council as ‘St Ronan’s Well and Conservation Area’. It was Historically Registered in 2011.

As both an historic site with links to the Roman Catholic Church and a designated conservation area it is now being placed under threat of environmental desecration by the delivery of a massive amount of domestic and industrial waste from Perth.

The repository will be at Allawuna Farm listed as being in a water catchment area and in an area of extremely high seismic disturbance. Allawuna Farm is located at St Ronan’s.

I am the aware that the Church does not involve itself in political issues, however this issue is definitely an environmental one.

Your local priest for St. Patrick Church, York, is the Reverend Father Stephen Cooney OPraem who may be able to assist you should you determine to investigate and become involved in this matter.

Yours sincerely
David Taylor

SIXTY THOUSAND CAN’T BE WRONG WITH SIXTY THOUSAND REASONS WHY! Has there been a mass regional exodus despite Royalties for Regions?

You will understand why this is a possibility when you enter the WHEATBELT DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION WEBSITE and click on the link ‘Royalties for Regions Progress Report 2013-14’.

When you enter you are told ‘this page you are looking for does not exist’ .Then you advised to check for ‘typos’ that do not exist either, nor does a 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 report.

Mystified, you then click on Royalties for Regions Progress link to the DEPARTMENT OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT website. Same answer-now its three strikes and you’re out!

The WHEATBELT DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION identifies its goals ‘surprisingly enough’ as developing the Wheatbelt region including facilitating opportunities for business, industry and population growth. So does the DEPARTMENT OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

You should not be ashamed of thinking now that no R4R funding has been spent on actually creating business and industry development and population growth in the Wheatbelt or any other region.

Bye-bye! 

The word is out that 60,000 have crossed back over the ’Rabbit Proof Fence’ because there are few jobs, especially in rural WA, where Royalties for Regions funding appears to have created little local employment opportunity.

This loss is like the population of Bunbury and surrounding districts has all but disappeared. Or you can equate it to both Geraldton and Kalgoorlie being empty, accept for a few hangers-on still hanging on, and an almost uninhabited Wheatbelt.

That is how much the disappearance of 60,000, formerly WA citizens, means when equated to regional population demographics.

Many, if not most, left the Pilbara in particular after massive mining infrastructure projects were completed, then the bottom fell out of the iron ore market. This capped-off a series of annus horibilis’ for the state’s socio-economic stability.

Despite the fact that as early as 2013, it was well known in building construction circles that China had a gluttonous stockpile of iron ore and steel, the Nationals, Brendon Grylls, still maintained he needed massive amounts of R4R funding to build a palatial Pilbara for a community of 50,000 in Port. Hedland and Karratha. (That is nearly twice the current 2017 population.)

Mr. Grylls even video-linked himself to the promotion of Veronica MacPherson’s $200 million, lavish Newman Estate project, the subject of an ASIC investigation. It is called a ‘Ponzi’ scheme involving the alleged fraudulent manipulation of investors in a major money-making scam.
If Mr. Grylls was relying on the support of the major multi-national mining companies to ensure a massive permanent population explosion in his electorate he was way off the mark.

That was never going to happen. The day the iron-ore price plunged was the day the Pilbara population of FIFO workers and support staff plunged with it, local businesses shut up shop and domestic property prices fell through the floor.

Where Mr. Grylls thought a huge new population would come from (worth the billions he spent for it) is a mystery to all but himself.

Even the manufacturers of steel-framed modular homes for North-West, WA, knew that housing development in the Pilbara was going to hit a brick wall way back in late 2013, but they were not about to tell Brendon Grylls.

When Mr. Grylls tried to payback the lack of support by the miners by demanding a mining tax, he got a payback in spades. In fact, not spades, but large excavators that buried his political career in a very large pit.

Mia Davies’ most avid supporters should acknowledge that her recent statement that the current government was making an ‘unprecedented attack on the bush’ is premature trash-talk. It would have been far more helpful if she had trash-talked the Allawuna Farm waste disposal project when she was elected to represent the Central Wheatbelt in 2013.

If Ms. Davies had backed this statement up by saying that support by R4R funding had created 500 new jobs and guaranteed any increase in population in her electorate then she should be listened to.

Unfortunately there are no verifiable statistics provided by the Wheatbelt Development Commission, the Department of Regional Development or any other commission and agency to make this dream an actual reality.

So where does the Wheatbelt go from here if it wants to be funded by the new system of Royalties for Regions?

It will require unprecedented reliance on local business groups such as a Local Business Associations, the local Chamber of Commerce and Industry and bodies such as the Wheatbelt Development Commission to come up with irrefutable evidence of viable development projects that demand Royalties for Regions funding. That will be the ‘be all and end all’ of the funding equation.

David Taylor.




  

THE MARVELOUS MONUMENTS OF MERREDIN (Royalties for What- or R4WTFFOR!)

Dotted across this vast state of ours, in its rural, regional, remote and nether regions, is a conglomeration of expensive, politically motivated failures with 26 of them now being subject to a government investigation.

In Brendon Grylls former Pilbara electorate there is a plethora of monstrous, grandiose ‘Real Estate’ stuff-ups, including empty luxury apartments and glamorous, but uninhabited, private estates.

Then there are unused facilities such as a new, deluxe aquatic centre that has virtually been closed since the day it was opened.

Some of these particular faux pas are still subject to investigation by the appropriate authorities including ‘Operation Sara’ by the WACCC on one R4R funded project.

It is mirrored, in miniature, in Mia Davies’ Merredin, her Central Wheatbelt Electorate eerie, where flashy government promotional signage casts an earie shadow over an empty domestic property development amid newish community facilities such as a sports complex.

Even Royalty for Regions local community assets that are now being used by their communities will be funded for centuries by ratepayers as their Shire Council’s cannot afford the day-to-day running costs.

The Royalties for Regions scheme, commenced in 2008, was to improve rural, regional and remote community infrastructure to make these areas more attractive to new residents.  Its main intention? To reverse the trend of population movement to the major city centres, ensure future local community sustainability and guarantee socio-economic development

There was a raft of genuinely great ideas that quickly sank in the mire of political opportunism.

The former Nationals Leader, Max Trenorden, had the right concept  of improving delivery of public utilities, public transport, the quality and cost of goods and services, regional innovation programs providing higher education enclaves and regional light industry, agriculture and transport hubs, based on USA modelling.

Building new facilities such as hospitals, medical centres and schools in particular were still supposed to be funded from normal government departmental resources, not R4R.

Instead everything was waylaid by The Lone Ranger Grylls and his sidekick Tonto Davies who were happy to use the funds for their own glorification, not for job creation that would actually allow for population growth.

Now eleven years and $7 billion onwards it is acknowledged that R4R has failed to create a positive population shift with people still leaving rural and regional communities, sometimes in droves.

That is why the independent, Western Australian, Economic Regulation Authority has demanded  much stronger cost-benefit analysis on R4R spending on the basis that you have to have jobs available- not just a new sports centre.

The R4R philosophy was to fund a ‘Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory’ with not enough initial capital, not enough employees to staff the factory, not enough customers to buy the chocolate and not enough finances to pay-off the debt.

Mia of Merredin is now claiming that a change in spending direction for R4R by the State Government is an ‘unprecedented attack on the bush’.

What she actually means is this particular town, Merredin, where the R4R scheme has supported projects such as a medical centre, sporting centre, high school, retirement village and an improved water system, may not be supported anymore.

The ‘unprecedented attack’ seems to hinge on the new government spending only $4 billion R4R funding in its first 4 years in office when the Nationals spent $7 billion in over 8 years.

Does this mean there will be $8 billion spent in 8 years by this government, being $1 billion more than the Nationals did- in the same places but in a different direction?  Obviously not in Ms. Davies’ calculations!

The big problem that Mia Davies has in defending the previous expenditure on R4R is that even the former Premier, Colin Barnett, sarcastically suggested that much of this money was spent on ‘low hanging fruit’.

This so called ‘low hanging fruit’ such as hospitals, medical centres, schools and a better water supply should have been funded through state government resources by the departments’ responsible, not from Royalties for Regions funding.

R4R should have been used for unfunded and well researched resource projects designed to build sustainable rural and regional local government area communities to entice population growth and business and industry growth. That is what it was originally and mainly designed for.

A sports complex?- fine- as long as its permanent on-costs can be easily met. A new retirement village?- Yes, as a public/private consortium commercial investment, where the running costs are borne by the private operator.

Colin Barnett and his Treasurer, Mike Nahan, must have been laughing all the way to the State Treasury when Royalties for Regions funds started to be used where government departments should have been footing the bill.

If a town needs a new high school, medical centre, or hospital that is a financial matter for the State not Royalties for Regions.

This should have been used to ensure that regions grew, not leave behind a brand new, empty community centre.

Will the new government actually do a better job?

The Nationals are not a hard act to follow, but it will be a case of wait and see!

David Taylor.

‘THIS PROPERTY IS CONDEMNED’. (It is amazing the tales that FOI Documents tell.)

The above is a movie in which a very young Robert Redford and an even younger Natalie Wood were the main characters. It is a very sad tale indeed, with no happy ending.

Forty-one-years on since this Tennessee Williams play was retold, York has its own saga relating to condemned property, or at least one that the public should not enter without being sure they have the best possible accident cover.

Are we now blissfully unaware of who the main protagonists in York’s drama are, or just doing our best to forget?

Are we chalking-up ‘Chalkies’ to a bitter, financially painful experience?

Or do we remember that Martin Roddis from Hendry Group Pty Ltd undertook a building compliance assessment report which condemned this property as being unfit for public use soon after it was bought on June 19, 2015, for a staggering $625,000.

The Shire of York is certainly aware of the Martin Roddis report. Hopefully, it is now in pursuit of recompense for the substantial losses made when a Commissioner was king- and looking after some blissfully happy humble servants very well.

In addition the Shire should also be questioning the lending policy of the Department of Treasury which, in this case, allowed a hugely inflated price to be paid for an alleged community investment, using government/public monies, without undertaking any form of due diligence regarding the loan. (Or had it been lied to.)

After the sale there was even an attempt at another blissful arrangement, where the Commissioner was prepared to do his very best to lease the property back to its recent owners.

This is alleged to be for storage purposes only, suggesting that the former owners were already aware that the property was ‘unfit for public use’.

Unfortunately the lease arrangement fell over. The Commissioner and his oppo, Graeme Simpson, where told by the DLGC that the lease would have to be advertised in accordance with the Local Government Act, 1995- Sect 3.58 so the possibility of really, really cheap rent, sort of went out through a broken window.

So why did the best Commissioner, the world has ever seen, decide not to advertise ‘Chalkies’ for lease to someone else?

One theory is that he was smart enough to realize other potential lessees might query the structural state of the building, seek independent advice and be told it was unfit for public use.

As of today’s date this property, valued at half the original sale price, with a supposed rental value of around $550 per week is still empty. At the full sale price of $625,000 the lease, per week, should have been between $900 and $1,000 rent return.

Therefore- anyone contemplating the question ‘to lease or not to lease’?, the answer should be no, let it stay empty!

Right now the ‘Shire of York versus the Chalkies sale’ will be a legal case of ‘best’ of luck.

So, in future, if you see a property once known as St. Patrick’s Convent School, then the Ragged Robin Restaurant and finally Chalkies, located at 25 to 27 South Street York, for sale?  Remember the meaning of ‘Caveat Emptor’.

Be aware that as of January 12, 2017, an unnamed licenced independent valuer has the property’s Market Value as $385,000, although you will have to protect your investment with $650,000 worth of insurance.

On March 2, 2017, the Shire of York commissioned Ralph Beattie Bosworth, Perth quantity surveyors to do a heritage building, concept estimate for one (1)- a proposed community building, and two (2)-a proposed restaurant, without the risk of public injury caused by the roof or walls caving in.

So since the beginning of this year, the Shire has had an independent Valuer, a quantity surveyor and the YRCC’s investigators, SGL, all beavering away for a ratepayer funded fee.

Before this, a report was commissioned from a company called BCA Consulting that specializes in independent evaluations of the risks that buildings may pose to life, limb and property. Its main claim to fame is advising the owners on how best to manage their fire, health and safety obligations.

Then there was another engineering report from McDowell Affleck, Structural Engineers. Rumour has it this was McDowell Affleck's second report and a watered down version of the first.

It appears that the current Council is worried about the public risk factors inherent in this community asset’s probably dangerous dilapidation.

How much these reports on ‘Chalkies’ have cost local ratepayers since 2015 is anyone’s guess, but an educated one would be at least $60,000.

The renovation estimate to convert “Chalkies’ into a usable safe community building is $906,000, Plus GST.

For a restaurant it is $1.163,000, Plus GST, which is for base building works only with no costs associated with the fit-out or embellishments included. (Why the Shire has requested a cost assessment for a commercial restaurant is anyone’s guess- when it still has the Forrest Bar & Café and should know all about the negative public perception of ‘competitive neutrality’.)

In these quotes no allowances are made for many things, including engineering costs, the costs for  replacement of the existing roof structure,  the necessary ground stabilisation (under-pinning) , and other major infrastructure upgrades.

The estimate of $906,0000 (excl.GST) is based on the assumption that the Shire of York undertakes a competitive tendering process for any restorative work. The Moore Stephens Draft Fraud and Risk Assessment clearly states that the Shire’s recent tendering processes put ratepayer funds at Extreme Risk. It does not even check if its contractors have any appropriate insurance cover.

If you add-on the original sale price and GST, the current total cost for a rejuvenated, rather than totally renovated community building is around $1.6million in ratepayer dollars. As a restaurant, $1.9million plus change.

All this for a property valued at $385,000- when the roof could still cave in.

So any potential purchaser faces a major liability from a Shire of York asset sale.

On the silver screen in 1966, Robert Redford, played Owen Legate, a man with the power to condemn a town.

In this decade, in the plot scenario for York, Tim Jurmann plays Tim Jurmann acting as the Senior Building Surveyor for the Shire of York with the power to condemn buildings, or at least demand that they are repaired to the standard required under all building regulations.

A Building Surveyor is a trained professional, working for the community in its best interest, with the authority to ensure all buildings are safe and accessible to the public.  Mr Jurmann is a senior one of these.

Mr. Jurmann has played this role for the Shire of York since February 2010. 

In August 2014 he became Director of a Crowe Certification, Shire of York and according to his Linkedin profile still claims to be the Shire of York’s Building Surveyor to this very day.

Between 2010 and 2014, ‘Chalkies’, was a privately owned, commercial property used for the sale of antiques, therefore accessible to the public. (Mr. Jurmann was the Shire’s Building Surveyor.)

Other than continuing minor earth tremors, the only event severe enough to cause damage to ‘Chalkies’ was the severe windstorm on January 30, 2011. It is unknown if any damage was reported, or investigated. (Mr. Jurmann was the Shire’s Building Surveyor.)

In 2015 the property was found to be unfit for public use, suggesting it was also unfit for public access. (According to Mr. Jurmann he was still the Shire’s Building Surveyor.)

The fact that the property now requires $1 million spent to make it a safe community building tends to suggests that the structure was sold when it was not all it was ‘cracked-up’ to be’? In fact it was far more cracked up than it should have been.

Who then is the biggest culprit, a Commissioner who abused his powers, a Building Surveyor who appears not to have done his designated job at the time - or the owners who allowed a near useless property to be sold with the loan repayments coming from their friends and neighbours rates?  Remember they have been paid $240,000 more than it is registered as being worth.

A cryptic clue is that it could be a synonym of euphoria, heaven, pleasure and paradise and rhyme with kiss. Or maybe you prefer one of the other two, maybe all three. All you can do is your best!

The facts from which you can make these choices are listed in the two ‘Released under Freedom of Information’ documents published below.

David Taylor.

ALL ABOUT CHALKIES  (There are answers of sorts from the Shire President raising more questions?)

1) Why was Council briefed on the complaint lodged with the Public Sector Commissioner just three months ago?

2) What took so long to progress to this lodgement as the property has been owned by the Shire since 2015?

3) Wasn’t a demand made in public in 2016 directly to you for Council to investigate the activities of Commissioner Best including his purchase of Chalkies? 
  
4) Prior to that you were advised, in writing, in October 2015 that the building was unsafe, then reminded  in January 2017 and told the cost of repairs in March, 2017. Was Council not shown these documents straight after their receipt?

5) In fact from 2015 there has been extremely damaging reports from the Hardy Group, BCA Consulting,  McDowell Affleck, an Independent Valuer and Ralph Battie Bosworth. Were you ever shown these documents and if not? why not?

6) Why does the CEO have the right to report potentially serious mistakes to authorities prior to advising Council?

7) Why bother mentioning the WACCC when the matter is being dealt with by the Public Sector Commissioner?

8) The  CEO WOULD have to tell Council if he had directly contacted the WACCC, or had been contacted by them!

9) Why suggest there was ‘a quote’ when it is in black and white there were two?

10) Mr. Tim Jurmann claims he still works for the Shire of York- does he?

RESPONSE

Very interesting. Chalkies was sold in June 2015. In October 2015 you (Shire) were told it was unfit for public use and Best had already gone.

According to you,  you and Council were finally briefed three months ago, making it around June 2017, two long years after the event.

Mr. Martin arrived around May, 2016. Thirteen months is one hell of a long time between finding out something isn’t right and advising the proper authority, then advising you and Council. If he was not advised by staff and/or Council in a timely manner-then the question is why not and the onus comes back to you.

Regarding your reference to the CCC, Mr. Martin, should advise you if he has contacted the CCC on any matter concerning the Shire, unless he was dobbing you and Council in. Even then the CCC would have to advise you as the defendant.

David Taylor

Windows 10

SHIRE RESPONSE

From: David Wallace
Sent: Monday, September 4, 2017 1:01 PM
To: davidgrant
Subject: Re: QUESTION

The CEO has a duty to report anything on that doesn't seem right to the proper authorities then notify myself and councillors.

Except for if he notifies the CCC then he can't tell anyone.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 4G on the Telstra Mobile network

QUESTION
-------- Original message --------
From: davidgrant
Date: 4/09/2017 12:44 pm (GMT+08:00)
To: David Wallace <david.wallace@york.wa.gov.au>
Cc: Paul Martin <ceo@york.wa.gov.au>
Subject: RE: QUESTION

Thank you David’

Just a couple of things. Councillors were ‘briefed’ meaning that were not involved in the decision making process to refer the matter to the public sector commissioner? Please correct me if I am wrong, but aren’t councillors elected to make those judgement calls or does the tail wag the dog?

A quote- no it was two quotes. One for a community building, and one for a commercial property, a restaurant which the Shire of York should not get involved in! That may be a question that comes back to haunt you.

The only interpretation of Tim Jurmann is that he was allegedly extremely slack at his job and/or the Shire was slack in forcing him to enforce building codes.

This is a job he claims to be doing to this day. What do you intend to do about that?

Regards David Taylor.

SHIRE RESPONSE 

From: David Wallace
Sent: Monday, September 4, 2017 10:23 AM
To: davidgrant
Subject: Re: Chalkies

Hi David

Councillors were briefed about 3 months ago about this building and on a way forward. We have been made aware of a current sworn evaluation and a quote on bringing the building up to code. 

All information regarding the purchase of this building was refered to the public sector commissioner. The agenda item regarding what to do with this building is now waiting for a response back from the public sector commissioner.

Regards 

David Wallace