SITA

On March 9, 2016, a letter titled, St. Ronan’s Wellness, addressed to the Leader of the Nationals, Terry Redman was published on this blogsite.

On March 10, 2016, there was a response from the, Hon. Mia Davies, regarding the content of this letter in a press release published on her official website.

Is this a coincidence, or a political exercise in reacting with alacrity for self –preservation? That decision is up to the reader. It certainly suggests that, like many of her kind, Ms. Davies is openly and deliberately reactive rather than positively proactive.

Ms. Davies neglects to mention the location of the SITA site other than it is 18 kilometres from York. She did not wish to nominate the location as being St. Ronan’s with its historic and emotive connotations.

Ms. Davies filial reaction as the Member representing York was just disappointment, nothing more positive than that.

Her objections were with regard to the adverse road conditions of The Great Southern Highway and the lack of support for the project within the York community, with nothing much more to add.

Ms. Davies could stop this farce today be declaring , as Minister for Water, in the best interest of the State of Western Australia, that because of the serious effect of climate change on annual rainfall, she is not prepared to allow a waste management refuse site to be located in the vicinity of any known fresh water catchment area.

That decree would be applauded by everyone, but she will not do it!

The reporter for The Avon Valley Advocate, Mr. Timothy Williams (timothy.williams@fairfaxmedia.com.au ) is aware of what is going on and should be questioning Ms. Davies and reporting on this deadly serious environment issue. If he does not, then his newspapers’ support of a local community within its circulation area, and its relevance as a committed local newspaper, is in question,

A reporter for The Sunday Times and Perth Now, Mr. Peter Law (Peter.Law@news.com.au ) is also fully aware of the SITA saga. The relevance of both his print and online publications to its readership in regional communities, considering its hard-copy newspapers’ purchase price, is directly related to its coverage of regional issues such as SITA. No coverage, then no purchase and no circulation!

Mr David Templeman (David.Templeman@mp.wa.gov.au ) is the Shadow Minister for the Wheatbelt and Heritage. Mr David Kelly (Dave.Kelly@mp.wa.gov.au) is the Shadow Minister for Water. The relevance of these two opposition spokesman to Rural, Regional and Remote Western Australia hinges on their actions regarding issues such as SITA and St. Ronan’s. Their future political fortunes may rest on their performance now!

Last but not least, the Hon Terry Redman, the Leader of the National Party (WA)  Minister.Redman@dpc.wa.gov.au  should make himself aware that the SITA issue will be a major distraction to his party’s campaign prior to the forthcoming election and every reasonable attempt will be made for this issue to adversely affect, Mia Davies, chances of re-election in 2017.

David Taylor.



                                               TWITS from MIA’s TWITTER ACCOUNT

                                (including some good stuff from my In-Your- Facebook)

Hi Constituents,

There’s one year to go until the next State Election so I have to tell you I’ve been a very busy girl.

Perth is so vibrant, so sassy, so in-your-face, so me-so to speak.  Yet sometimes I feel that I should relax and visit the Central Wheatbelt more often.

It’s so quiet up there, not too many people to worry about. That’s even if your worries should be my worries, which they’re not.

Sometimes I feel I should invite you all to my place, Parliament House. I’d feel much safer if you had to drive to see me.

I know our roads are not that flash, but that’s not my Ministerial problem. (My COS has just said ‘don’t mention those wooden crosses- says that’s a ‘shush’ and a no-no’.)

And Terry, that’s my boss, Terry Redman, says he won’t use Royalties for Regions funds to fix rural roads because it’s Main Roads’ and the drivers fault.

I’m not sure if he means it’s the drivers fault for daring to drive on our sh*t roads, or he thinks most were sh*tfaced.

I try to forget that Royalties for Regions money was used to build a Tavern in York. Thank the Lord it’s hardly ever open.

So guys, the ones I like to call my Central Weetbix family, what have I been up to on your behalf?

I must tell you I’ve been soooooo busy my ankles are swollen from spoiling you, my voters.

Firstly I’ve been helping out in the Southern Forests with a whole of region approach to water security. Ooops! Sorry that’s nothing to do with you.

Oh here’s one. Now I’ll dazzle you with all the cash I’m throwing in your direction. Its $7 billion, yes $70 million, do you believe that?

Well not really. Its $7 million for 31 projects throughout the state, with 14 in regional areas, and only one in Central Wheatbelt.

It’s actually just $95,000 for the new Kellerberrin Skate Park where the whole family, including granny, can go along, have fun, and ’break a leg’ so to speak. Yes, I do realize that $95,000 is not much more than 1 per cent of $7 million, but there is wheelchair access.

It is for your own good. My electorate is renowned for my electors being overweight, obese, actually downright fatsos. So go ahead my middle-aged little piggies, use it in good health because there’s no money for hospital or primary healthcare upgrades.

Just think of me as ‘Nurse Mia’, your fat busting, Health Care Professional Parliamentarian.

Now here’s a good one, it’s my Nicky Winmar Carnival for Future AFL (Indigenous) Stars. We all know Nicky is a Wheatbelt boy, born in Pingelly and our region should honour him and all our other famous Indigenous players.

We did, it was held at Bendigo Bank Stadium, Mandurah, so no-one had to travel up crap inland rural roads.

Recently I was in Merredin, Oh-silly me, Geraldton, looking to see how to use water to support growth and diversification in horticulture to create new economic opportunities in the Mid-West.

This may flow-on (a Waterwise pun-‘giggle’) to the Central Wheatbelt sometime in the future.

Speaking of water, did you all get my free Waterwise showerheads in Beverley, Kellerberrin, Merredin, Mukinbudin, Narembeen, Northam, Wongan-Ballidu and Yilgarn? They make it so much easier to shower with your pants on and still save water.

Did I forget someone, maybe York? That’s understandable; it is the nearest town to the end of the alphabet other than Zanthus. Oh, I’ve just been told Zanthus doesn’t exist anymore, sort of like what’s coming to the rest of regional WA. (Yilgarn has got an ‘I’ in it.)

You all know I can be a little sneaky; otherwise I wouldn’t be a politician. What I say is ‘the Wheatbelt to get this’,’ the Wheatbelt to get that’, when in reality it is getting next to bugger-all.

My latest is “Royalties for Regions funding revitalises Wheatbelt pools’’ which means 94 pools outside the metropolitan area, not just the few in the Wheatbelt. Just you be grateful that you’re actually getting anything at all.

No! ‘Pools’ doesn’t mean natural pools like St. Ronan’s Well, it’s those real swimming pools that you all wee in. As Minister for Water I’ve been thinking of making weeing in public swimming pools a criminal offense and I am presenting my Criminal Code Amendment (Prevention of Unlawful Urination Activity) Bill along with the lock-up an environmental protester bill to Parliament as soon as possible.

Some of you think water just falls from the sky! It does, but not much these days. Hopefully we won’t run out of this precious CO2 stuff before the next election and I can claim that Wheatbelt pools are wee-free.

Unfortunately, I thought of ‘Mad Max’ Trenorden the other day. The press used to call him the ‘Old Nationals Warhorse’. Some people think Brendy and I thought he was the ‘old carthorse’ that needed to be politically euthanized. Yes we did- and so we did!

Firstly, in 2008, we told him to go and sit on his thumbs in the ‘Upper House’ so he couldn’t interfere with Brendy winning the seat of Central Wheatbelt

Then, in 2013, we unceremoniously kicked him out of the National Party!

Max said we thought he was bad for the party because we were creating a new youthful image without those with hair in their ears and 26-years of political experience.

He reckoned as the party’s campaign director I was a major player in sending him to the knacker’s yard. Nor was he happy with Brendy who he claimed hung him out to dry.

Tut, tut, that is so picky Maxy

Some say that Max was a major instigator of Bendigo Bank coming to WA after most of the big banks packed up and left the Wheatbelt, and that he was a major reason for the Avon Link.

He also wanted to make Northam an Excellence in Educational Hub by combining the resources of Northam Senior High School, St. Joseph’s Convent and Muresk Agricultural College, make Merredin an inland Agricultural Transport Hub, and York a major equine facility for equestrian and racehorse training and events.

Everyone knows he refused to accept Perth’s refuse at Grass Valley, while I can’t wait to smell Nedlands’ rancid caviar residue at St. Ronan’s. in the morning. That’s an ‘Apocalypse Now’ joke for an apocalyptic project.

Anyhow Max ideas are so passé, nothing like the new National Party agenda.

Now the Australian Sports Foundation Chairman, Mark Stockwell, has had the audacity to say sport funding in WA is in the ‘Dark Ages’ of sausage sizzles and chook raffles.

As Minister for Sport I love sausage sizzles even if burnt sausages can be carcinogenic. I rely on that old sporting cliché ‘no-pain, no-gain’.
I remind Mr. Stockwell that we’re spending $1.5billion on a new sport stadium, so of course me and my government is funding sport less and less.

TO REGISTER YOUR ECSTATIC SUPPORT FOR ME, PLEASE CONTACT MAMAMIA DAVIES, MLA, ON
9041 1702 (MERREDIN OFFICE) 9622 2871 (NORTHAM OFFICE) or mia.davies@mp.wa.gov.auc.

And don’t forget to get in early to register for the pleasure of handing out my ‘How to Vote’ cards next polling day.

Did any of the 'visionary' disciples see this one coming?

To envision something  - to imagine what a situation will be like in the future, especially a situation you intend to work towards, for example; the pork barrel purchase of 'Chalkies'.

Evidently, it was the vision of James Best and Graeme Simpson to purchase 'Chalkies' way before the most loyal of sycophants knew anything about it (other than Mickey and Dickey).
More coming soon

ST. RONAN’S WELLNESS

Date March 9, 2016

Hon Terry Redman MLA
Minister for Regional Development, Lands
Minister Assisting the Minister for State Development
Leader of the National Party (WA)
9^th Floor Dumas House
2 Havelock Street
WEST PERTH, 6005

Dear Sir,


Your Ref: -           Article titled ‘St. Ronan’s Wellness’.

You should have recently received a copy of the above emailed to your electorate office.

I assume you are aware of its content regarding the, Hon. Mia. Davies, commitment as Minister for Water, and to her electorate of Central Wheatbelt.

Since it was first broadcast, this article has been accessed 1520 times by those who are, now, also aware of its content.

It would be hardly surprising if those who have read the article do not have a somewhat jaundiced view of the ministerial abilities and the constituent support endeavours of your Ms. Davies.

Statistically, the content of the article should now be known to at least double that number of 1520, based solely the Australian Bureau of Statistics average of 2.5 persons per Australian Household and theoretical newspaper judgements on their overall circulation and attendant readership.

Should you take into account ‘Dunbar’s Number’, which would be limited only to the cognitive, neocortex size of your National Party supporter base, you could be surprised to find that up to 150 others may eventually be made aware of Ms. Davies lack of capabilities. That is per person, not 150 in total.

I assume you understand that this would be enough voter rejection for Ms. Davies to be dumped from her seat of Central Wheatbelt and cast out into the wasteland of failed National Party politicians.

The State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) has just made the incredibly moronic decision to allow SITA to deposit Perth’s physical hubris in pristine farmland at St. Ronan’s, York. A decision- which has come direct from the ‘Dark Ages’.

SAT, that consists mainly of a gaggle of unenlightened Neo-Neanderthal, city-centric lawyers without one ounce of rural community awareness, sympathy and accountability should now be renamed SHAT, the State Hubris Administrative Tribunal.

Only an imbecile would consider this a wise decision and its ramifications will have a serious impact on Wheatbelt politics and its future political aspirants, for the 12 months leading up to the 2017, WA State Election.

Consider that it may well become the rural equivalent of the Roe8 controversy and that the National Party (WA) can no longer lay claim to represent the best interests of Rural Regional and Remote WA.

Also, only an imbecile would deny the idiom that ‘politics is all about perception’ with often very little truth required to complicate issues.

Tony Abbott and Peta Credlin are currently treading through this minefield. Troy Buswell and Adele Carles eventually blew themselves up in it.

Around the time of the last election, some waspish innuendo emanated, allegedly from the WA Premiers Office, regarding the relationship between Mia Davies and Brendon Grills.
Part of the allegation was that they were living together in Northam.

Claims were made that Mr.Grylls had a house there and it was not understood why a Member of Parliament, and a Minister, whose Electoral Office was in Merredin, 165 kilometres away, and was contesting the seat of Pilbara, 1,550 kilometres away, should maintain a relatively expensive property many kilometres from where he should be. A property supposedly shared by Ms. Davies.

Few care about politicians’ possible relationship imbroglios and nor should they. That is until it impacts on a senior politician’s actions taken to be in the best interest of those electors who franchised him or her to act on their behalf.

From June 2009, Ms Davies appears to have had an extremely close collaborative relationship with Mr. Grylls, firstly as Party Secretary to the Parliamentary National Party, and then as Parliamentary Secretary to Mr. Grylls when he was the Minister for Regional Development and Lands.

This is not quite true, prior to this date Ms. Davies was a close confident of Mr. Grylls, working out of his offices in Parliament House when he was a member of the Opposition.

Since then she has been promoted by, and succeeded, Brendon Grylls as the elected member for Central Wheatbelt and has managed to obtain Cabinet Portfolios with little parliamentary experience, while sitting on only one Parliamentary Committee in the past 7 years.

There is still confusion and rumour-mongering why Mr. Grylls effectively walked away from positions of extreme political power and importance in Western Australian politics claiming exhaustion and family commitments.

The electorate of Pilbara should not have been that impressed by their newly elected member claiming exhaustion and family issues (unless there was an unknown illness involved.)

Basically, from now-on, Ms. Davies performance as both a Minister and an elected representative will be extremely closely monitored and reported on when necessary up until the next election.

It is highly likely that she will be found wanting on all fronts.

I neither expect nor require a response from you or your office.

Therefore please save yourself the trouble of providing a gladbag of glib government gibberish that Parliamentary and electorate staffers have developed into an art form.

Yours sincerely

David Taylor.

*******************

(An ancient clear-water spring and York’s 185 year history should give Local Member, Mia Davies, two more reasons to be circumspect about her future. If St Ronan’s landfill goes ahead, Davies should go! )

Soon Premier Colin Barnett will be making career choices for his failed Minister for Local Government, Tony Simpson, his failed Minister for Mental Health, Helen Morton and allow his
Health Minister, Kim Hames, the ‘Doctor Death’ of the WA Hospital Healthcare System, to slip away quietly without any attempt at resuscitation.

Former tree (not brain) surgeon, the Minister for the Environment, Albert Jacob, who has cost the WA economy millions of dollars because he has never properly read The Environmental Protection Act 1986, its Associated Regulations and Offset Guidelines, may also be on the faeces-list.

However, he has strong ‘new-religion’ support and may pray (in tongues) in his Global Heart Church that the recent Roe 8 fiasco will ‘supernaturally heal itself’ and he will not be a biblical ‘branch-stacker’ lopped-off the ministerial tree.

He will also be hoping that the Criminal Code Amendment (Prevention of Lawful Activity) Bill is passed through both Houses of Parliament allowing future Roe 8 protestors to be fined up to $24,000 and spend up to two years in jail.

Dean Nalder is one whose policy on trains, planes, and automobiles has everyone guessing which carpark and freeway will be crammed over its limit? He will survive because he is in-line to be trained to become the next Premier in 2017. That is if he keeps his nose clean and his private business (including a recent denial of any possible transport company share-mongering) out of his public life.

Rest easy, none of these political machinations will directly affect the Wheatbelt, and York, in a clearly discernible way, in any specific period in time, because York is not in a Liberal Party electorate. (And because the failing Minister for Water is from the National Party,)

The elected representative to State Parliament for the Central Wheatbelt and Deputy Leader of the Nationals, former marketing and media officer, UK underground railway worker, beer puller, cocktail shaker and housekeeper-cum-maid, the Hon. Mia Davies, is York’s representative.

In affect she appears not to be representing many of her constituents in any meaningful manner or handling any of her portfolios with any dexterity, and may be coming a bit of a future millstone for her Central Wheatbelt constituency. (Her father, the Hon. Dexter Davies, only lasted in Parliament from August 11, 1998, until February 10, 2001.)

Many like the former Editor of The West Australian, a colleague, sort of shock jock and columnist, Paul Murray, appear not to be particularly enamoured with Ms.Davies and are far from certain of what this Ministers’ credentials really are. Nor does the Leader of the Opposition, Mark McGowan, who is questioning what devious and dysfunctional political activities she is up to in her forestry role.

In powerful political circles she is considered to be a puerile political lightweight, a token National’s Minister to keep the Nationals happy as a Coalition partner. (If she was either Liberal or Labor, she would be more than likely sitting on the back bench.)

Yet, Ms. Davies has the serious portfolios of Forestry (a rapidly dwindling resource), Water (even more so) and the gladrags opportunity portfolio of Sport and Recreation.

As Minister for Forestry, Ms. Davies, and her office staff, has seen-off the most senior officer of the extremely important Forest Products Commission who seemed to have had little confidence in her and her staff’s ability.

When confronted, in writing, by its Board, regarding the resignation of its General Manager, with the quote that it “was not in anyone’s best interest” Ms. Davies and her underlings reacted by redacting this statement from the original letter so they would not be questioned about it and become the proverbial ‘rabbits in the public spotlight’.

The Forest Products Commissioner and a senior board member then resigned in disgust, realizing they were dealing with a Minister who put political expediency and self-interest first and foremost and her lack of knowledge of renewable forest resource management-dead last. 

This acrimonious issue is now slowly filtering out into the public domain and so is the dissatisfaction with her performance in some agencies of her other portfolios, Water and Sport & Recreation.

As the Minister for Water for the past three years, Ms. Davies is mandated to protect our most precious resource, water, and the surrounding environment that assists in its capture and storage.

Obviously, Premier Colin Barnett feels that the Water Portfolio is of such little importance in can be handled by any Tom, Dick or Mia.

This contradicts his previous attitude on the frightening scarcity of water in the Metropolitan Area’s future. Since becoming Premier in 2008 and as late as April, 2011, Mr. Barnett has espoused the idea that eventually Kimberley water will have to be piped to Perth. He was so adamant about the need for this to happen that his original ‘Colin’s Crazy Canal’ idea cost him an election in 2005.

To put matters in perspective, Mia Davies most memorable effort, so far, is being the Minister responsible for the ‘Water Wise’ advertisement for reducing the amount of time the public spends in the shower.

It is an absolute classic, where a cartoon character of a man enters the shower with his pants on.

Good luck if he can wash himself properly in under- four minutes- if he leaves them on. (A bit of gratuitous cartoon butt-crack may well be only offensive to Ms. Davies, or those who are offended by everything and everyone.)

‘Pants-on’ certainly promotes one hell of a weird message to those normal men, women and children, who take their clothes off to have a shower.

Or maybe it has a deeper, altruistic meaning that people should wash and wear their clothes while engaged in their ablutions?

Unfortunately, this childish advertising campaign has not soaked in, with currently available figures showing WA households using in the vicinity of 132 KL of precious water, per person, per annum, compared to the national average of just 75 KL.

WA’s uncontrolled population expansion over the past three decades, with an almost equal and opposite percentage reduction in annual rainfall, still has a water supply that loses 10 billion litres, because of infrastructure failures, above the prescribed international benchmark, per annum.

In the terms of supplying water to a burgeoning population, it makes this 10billion figure unacceptable.

Especially when you consider the extra 14 billion litres recently lost through heat evaporation, which was more than the entire, annual, catchment area run-off of 11.4 billion litres. Also that the historic average dam water catchment input is 100 billion litres- which means that WA has just used at least 2.6 billion litres of water more than was collected.

As of today, tomorrow, the next day and for years to come, WA is facing the biggest water crisis in the state’s history with its dams virtually empty. Recently a Water Corporation spokesman said it would take rainfall of biblical flood proportions to get even close to refilling these dams.

Ms Davies’ Water Corporation solution is to pump 10 billion litres from the Gnangara Aquifer this year. This will come from upper ground water levels that will have the potential to decimate lakes and wetlands and its flora and fauna. (This could still leave a shortfall of 90 billion litres below the historic annual rainfall created, surface water input of 100 billion litres.)

Removing large volumes of water from aquifers is a short term fix to create a long term disaster. It is the Minister for Water’s overall responsibility and a problem that she has little idea how to deal with.

Another solution she is allowing is the public sell-off of her Water Corporations’ Construction and Engineering Unit that deals with its rapidly aging infrastructure. In future there will be more and more equipment blowing up and rusty water-pipes bursting because the past maintenance program has been ‘if it aint broke, don’t fix it.’

This infrastructure has a replacement value of $11 billion dollars. (Around four new hospitals, 2.5 sport stadiums and a currently ugly and empty Swan River frontage water development.)

Whether parts of the Water Corporation are publically or privately owned still means the taxpayer
will foot the bill for any and all of the Minister for Water’s mistakes.

The frequent closure of the new, expensive Elizabeth Quay Water Park because of bacterial contamination and the increasing number of burst water mains in the Perth CBD are, ultimately,
Mia Davies problem. As Minister she bears the responsibility for the quantity of water available, the amount of water used, its quality and the quality of its delivery in this state.

Now it is time to get serious about the Minister for Water, including the local impact of her water policy and her relationship with York that could destroy a part of its rich history and its tourism industry.

In 2013, SITA, (The Leader in Resource Discovery) (and waste dumping) formally stated its intention to establish a new landfill site at St. Ronan’s near York. (Allawuna is just the name of a farm, not the area.)

St. Ronan’s has a natural spring of (once) crystal clear water, first discovered by European settlers in the 1830’s that became a precious resting place for the early pioneers of York and the Avon Arc. It is listed as being under the control of the Department of Planning from early settlement to 2009 and, obviously, by the Balladong people for around 40,000 years before that.

It should be both an Indigenous and European peoples’ ‘Sacred Site’, a type of ‘holy place’ that you could count on one finger in the State of Western Australia.

 Anywhere else in the known world it would be enshrined in local history and be a well preserved shrine for the memory of our earliest pioneering past.

It is claimed that the stone well itself was completed in 1844 and was given the name St. Ronan’s Well (and blessed) by Bishop Rosenda Salvado who was looking for a suitable place to build a church. Unfortunately for York, he chose New Norcia instead. (No-one would dare put a rubbish dump close to an iconic monastery.)

Bishop Salvado is Western Australia’s most celebrated evangelical pioneer. He was a friend of the inimitable Daisy Bates (an early supporter of Indigenous People and wife of the infamous ‘Breaker’ Morant) and was deeply respected by England’s Florence Nightingale, the famous “Lady with the Lamp’.

Born in Spain in 1814, near the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Bishop Salvado has a magnificent statue erected in his memory (and honour) in his hometown of Tui, and another at New Norcia where his remains are buried.

St. Ronan was a 6^th Century Irish saint and pilgrim who never returned to his homeland, like many of the early settlers of York. (Arguably the only other place named after St. Ronan is St. Ronan’s School, in Kent (UK). Established in 1883, which post-dates St. Ronan’s Well by close to half a century.)

St. Ronan’s Well Reserve, (Place Number 04429) is listed since 2002 with the Heritage Council, and should appear on the Permanent Register of The National Estate, and on a Department of Water map as being part of a precious water-catchment area feeding the Mundaring Weir.

St. Ronan’s Well, its water source and its history, currently, appear to mean nothing to the Minister for Water and the Local Member, Mia Davies.

What Ms. Davies has been doing recently is voting for the Roe 8 protest law that means if the St. Ronan’s landfill goes ahead, you will be arrested if you decide to stand in front of a rubbish truck entering the Allawuna Farm gate. (The local Member will not be supporting your case or organizing to help pay your fine, she is just helping to put you in this perilous, invidious position, over an unquestionably important issue in the electorate she supposedly represents.)

Before the last election and her rise to power, on the then disappearing coattails of Brendon Grylls,
Ms. Davies, voted against a similar law being introduced. Now times, aspirations and allegiances have changed.

The portfolio that appears to enthral Ms. Davies the most is being the Minister for Sport and Recreation. It gives her the photo opportunity to grin like a Cheshire cat, in a hard hat, behind Premier Barnett, as Perth’s new $1.5 billion sports stadium raises over Burswood, next to the Crown Casino.

It also gives her a chance to clutch a football and smile once again in support of the $50,000 Super Coach Fantasy Football competition published by Perth’s The Sunday Times.  This increases the circulation and profits of a newspaper owned by the world’s most powerful media baron, Rupert Murdoch, who does not have a philanthropic bone in his body.

For Mia Davies to promote Western Australian football is fine, but not a News Limited, profit motivated, nation-wide competition.

However, Murdoch’s Australian newspaper empire does give editorial support to politicians who do him a promotional favour, even in itty-bitty, little old WA.(Maybe that is a reason for the photograph and article on page 13 of the Sunday , February 21, edition of The Sunday Times.)

Now if the St. Ronan’s SITA dump goes ahead and some blue asbestos, covered in ‘Glad-Wrap’ pops out of the water while you are trying to have a picnic amid the piles of litter at St. Ronan’s Well, you may wish to think again about voting for Mia Davies in the 2017 State Election and she may need all the editorial help she can get from The Sunday Times.

In the 2013 election Ms. Davies lost 10.9 per cent of the Two Candidate Preferred National Party lead over her nearest rival. A similar swing could see her out of office.

It will be the choice of the Central Wheatbelt electors which includes the voting community of York as the second largest population in her constituency.

If you chance to meet the Hon. Mia Davies, just remind her that her re-election chances may well hinge on the support of York as to whether she retains her seat or not. And that, if the St. Ronan’s landfill goes ahead, maybe as many as 2,327 former supporters will not vote for her .

She will know what that means on election night when she finds that fresh water takes precedence over a rubbish tip in any electorate and any violation of a precious water source allowed by any West Australian Minister for Water is unthinkable.

Also tell her that the Wheatbelt, including the Central Wheatbelt, is listed as the single region in Western Australia that was continuously losing population during a period when the state’s population and economy was booming.

Let us hope that Ms. Davies takes note and a historic well’s future wellbeing means ‘all’s well that ends well’ for York’s economic future!

David Taylor.
Shire of York Ratepayer

THE SIMPSONS (Episode 2015, titled “The Jolly Best of Luck”, based on a true story.)

The Simpsons is a Local Government farcical, cartoon character comedy set in the fictitious town of Springfield, which is actually the Shire of York.

Graeme Simpson stars as Homer, the feckless Acting CEO of the town and Tony Simpson, as the Local Government Minister Mr. Burns, the archetypal, political villain who loathes Springfield and its citizens,

There is Brad Jolly as Bart Simpson, the ignorant brat who thinks non-compliance means probity and James Best is Waylon Smithers, Mr Burns’ Local Government Commissioner ‘love child’ who comes to Springfield to teach its miscreant citizens a thing or two.

Episode 2015 is based on the formal release of Freedom of Information documents requested by some citizens of Springfield concerned about the size of Waylon Smithers pay-check compared to what he was actually up to.

Originally, Homer was asked if Mr. Smithers was double dipping, being paid $63,933.72 as Commissioner and then $39,000 (Inc. GST) as a consultant who had also brought his Hames Sharley ’Ouija Board’ to summon forth the spirits of visioning and the poltergeists of ideation?

Homer’s answer was ‘yep’ for the cost for both the consultant mumbo-jumbo and the Commissioners Fees.

That is actually both a ‘yep’ and a bit of a ‘nope’ Homer.  

It is now known that the Tax Invoice (WA) 010321) from Hames Sharley for Smithers’ Review of Springfield Local Planning Strategy was for $39,000 with $36,000 going to Smithers.

But, the official Springfield Credit Payments Listing for the payment to Hames Sharley for the Review of Springfield Local Planning Strategy was for Tax Invoice (WA 01030 (wrong invoice) and for $41,775.53 (wrong amount.) Now that is $2,775.53 worth of funny business.

The Credit Payment Listing also suggests Mr. Smithers was paid $13,200 per month, which over a six month period, works out to be $79,200, with an additional $8,000 allowance for Springfield ‘sleepovers’.

Springfield also paid $19,000 in legal fees in this time. Normally you do not have to pay for lawyers if you have done nothing wrong.

Adding up the cost of Smithers monumental achievements, over a six month period he left Springfield close to $1 million poorer.

So this is what makes The Simpsons so much fun to watch.

Then ‘gasp’ we find that Smithers may not be Mr. Burns love-child after all.

Homer tells Springfield that Mr. Burns wanted a commissioner and a trainer/mentor to bring Springfield into line.

A very grumpy Mr. Burns responds to Homer, telling him that neither he or his Department of Local Government and Communities approved or endorsed additional payments to be made to Mr. Smithers to undertake either community visioning or council training.

Also, that Homer better tell this to Springfield or else, because he lied to its citizens.

However you have to give it to Homer. He turns around and effectively calls Mr. Burns a liar, reminding him of his initial letter of instruction indicating that Mr. Smithers had been given a dual role carrying out the duties of the Council- and training.

Whether you believe the words of a either a politician or an Acting CEO depends on how far you can hurl a 5,000 kg elephant. Then Bart, one of Mr Burns’ favourite brats, puts in his two cents worth.

This is because as Executive Director, Sector Regulation and Support, Bart regulates nothing, supports nothing and had probably just had one of Mr Burns’ shiny Florsheim’s embedded between his buttocks because of his retarded efforts.

Initially Bart had been in it up to his eyebrows in Springfield, introducing Waylon Smithers to Homer in January 2015.

Bad brat Bart told Homer that Smithers was a jolly well qualified consultant in community visioning and both he and Mr Burns would support Homer in hiring Smithers to be both the Commissioner and a community vision consultant.

Later Homer gets a few guffaws from the audience when he makes the understatement of the year that from then on Bart ‘was very quiet during the whole process’.

It appears that Bart forgot to tell Mr. Burns about his sanctioning Homer to do the dual hiring. Then has the audacity to infer that he had never suggested that Smithers be hired, and paid extra, as a consultant.

Regarding Bart, you can believe what he tells you for the distance you can toss a Boeing 747.

Timing is an integral part of comedy and Burns and Bart had let all this visioning, training bullshit fester from January 2015 to September 2015 at an extremely expensive laugh a minute, and after Smithers had already left Springfield.

The big joke is that all this not so funny comedy of errors occurred when Springfield did not have a council because according to Mr. Burns, it had made too many errors. Now that is the biggest laugh of all and makes Mr. Burns look even more stupid.

Credits roll
David Taylor

Now you can read the FOI documents.

IT IS TIME TO RELEASE THE FITZ GERALD REPORT (Then there will be nothing left to hide.)

Date Feb 17, 2016
Hon. Tony Simpson
Minister for Local  Government and Communities
8^th Floor Dumas House
2 Havelock Street
WEST PERTH, 6005

Dear Minister

Your Ref:-                              ‘GOODNIGHT AND GOODLUCK’  (Ed Murrow)
                                                           (The Fitz Gerald Report)
  
It is predicted that in March, 2016, you will have your appellation and ministership removed by Premier, Colin Barnett, in a much anticipated, and necessary, ‘Cabinet reshuffle’.

If the debacle that was your markedly ill-informed, and belated, interference with the Shire of York Council is a measure of the quality of your supervision as the Minister for Local Government and Communities, then your probable dismissal is well deserved.

In April 2014, at the time of Chief Executive Officer, Ray Hooper’s resignation from his position, you made a media statement that “to have Ray resign, it’s going to put a bit of a hole in York”.

This was a supportive, deferential assertion, in direct contradiction to well documented contrary evidence, regarding Mr. Hooper’s long-term narcissistic, manipulative and arguably incompetent employment performance, which was already in your possession.

You went on to state that Mr. Hooper’s resignation had come “at a time there is a bit of community pressure on a number of issues”.

At this time you were fully conversant with what these issues were and chose to make the insulting inference that these York community complaints were isolated and puerile, even though they were numerous and legitimate, dated back prior to your term in office, and also came from other Local Government Areas such as Kalgoorlie and Chittering.

One of these ‘bits’ of community pressure came after the Shire of York Council administration was found by an independent regulatory authority of appropriate jurisdiction to be ‘defective’ which has the synonyms of ‘broken, flawed, inept and useless’.

From April 16, 2014, it was patently obvious that your intent was to support Mr. Ray Hooper, castigate the community of York and malign the Shire of York President, Matthew Reid, because they had the temerity to question your ability and authority, and that of your department.

On July 8, 2014, the SEARTG experiment was effectively cancelled through actions taken by you.

On July 25, 2014, just 17 days later, the Fitz Gerald Report was allegedly released, raising serious Local Government compliance and integrity issues regarding York’s former Chief Executive Officer, Ray Hooper, and former Shire of York Council Presidents, Tony Boyle and Pat Hooper.

You were fully aux fait with what would be the content of the Fitz Gerald Report well before its release and realized that the adverse naming of these individuals in this report did not auger well for the continuing positive development of SEARTG.

This triumvirate was an integral and influential group within SEARTG from its inception. One had resigned and you were aware that the other two could be forced to resign or not seek re-election, leaving your support for SEARTG in a potentially parlous position without a powerful contingent representing the largest council, the Shire of York.

You would have also realized that the actions of these three could be found unacceptable by other Local Government Area members of the SEARTAG group. Even SEARTG’s Chief Executive Officer, Dominic Carbone, was again adversely mentioned in this report.

I now bring to your attention the alleged malicious falsehood generated by you regarding the release of the Fits Gerald Report that is actually dated by its author, Michael Fitz Gerald, as being on July 22, 2014. This is three days prior to its supposed ‘official’ release to the President and Councillors of the Shire of York on July 25, 2016.

A fairly brief summation of the report and its recommendations, titled ‘York council could probe former Chief’ by Kate Emery, was published in The West Australian Newspaper on July 26, 2014.
  
The article chose to name Mr. Ray Hooper, Mr. Tony Boyle and Mr. Pat Hooper as having allegations to answer in the public interest. Also, that at least seven other persons had abrogated their responsibilities and should, publically, have to explain why.

Prior to publication the newspaper would have assured itself, through its lawyers, that it had the legal right and a public obligation to do this.

At no stage since have those adversely mentioned in the report sought to take legal action against anyone over the content of the article and the Fitz Gerald Report itself. The affected councillors chose not to publically defend their reputations and have left the Shire of York Council in disgrace.

You and senior members of your staff deliberately and methodically set out to bring Matthew Reid’s reputation into disrepute, a reprehensible action by a Minister of the Crown and his bureaucracy.
Therefore, you, and your staff owe the former President of the Shire of York, Matthew Reid, a public apology.

It will certainly be a surprise to all if you have the good grace or internal fortitude to do this.

In an attempt to salve a modicum of your lost reputation you should now ensure that the Fitz Gerald Report is released to the community of York and allow, in this instance, your successor to take up your role with a clean slate.

You have the power and the obligation to set the record straight and do something decent for a community that is part of ministerial role to support.

The release of the report will give a community closure- as there will be nothing left to hide.

Yours sincerely

David Taylor.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL COUNCILLORS (But Policy Review is not your job.)

While many enjoyed the Christmas/ School Holiday break catching up with family and friends , the Shire of York Councillors spent a lot of their time with an expensive, independent expert, trying to catch up with a much needed, mandatory ‘Policy Review’ and badly needed amendments. (This is right now- not in the past, but certainly caused by it-and specialist experts can cost at least $1,000 per-day!)

By statute Local Government Area Policies must be continuously reviewed, in a nominated timely manner, to ensure that they meet ever changing, Local Government Area objectives including health, safety, building and planning standards defined as being in the best overall interest for the growth and economic and social wellbeing of the local community.

It is not a prerequisite for elected Local Government Council members to be directly involved in any policy review, other than voicing the opinion of ratepayers where they feel that a policy may impinge on individual rights and some amendments could be justified.

Policy Review and amendment is what the Chief Executive Officer and his most senior Public Service Officer are paid, in York, close to a half-a-million dollars to do as part of their contract of employment.

According to the WA Salaries and Allowances Tribunal, York is a Band 3 Local Government Area regarding allowances remuneration to Councillors for their commitment of time and effort. This means that the current Shire of York Council of seven elected members would be lucky to claim, as a group, the annual amount spent by Ray Hooper on travel, meals, accommodation and incidentals accrued on his corporate credit card. (An average- in the vicinity of $25,000 per annum.)

Band 3 Local Government Area Councillors are not adequately remunerated, given the responsibilities they undertake and the community expectations they must be seen to meet.

In some ways this explains the abiding interest of some past Shire of York councillors and presidents in turning SEARTG into the South East Avon Voluntary Regional Organization of Councils (SEAVROC).

An avaricious motive would be that this would have increased certain Council Member’s allowances to Band 2 levels, a potentially massive multiplication.

The latest available Salaries & Allowances Tribunal figures show that the Lord Mayor of Perth (Band 1) can claim up to $133,000 before getting stuck into Conflict of Interest gratuities. Mayors and or Presidents on Band 2 can claim an annual allowance of up to $61,800 prior to accepting potentially illegal gifts of travel and entertainment. Band 3 is less than 30 percent of that, if you are lucky.

However all senior Local Government Area Public Service Officers are extremely well remunerated for the services they are supposed to provide, but sometimes do not!
Regular and proper Local Government Area Policy Reviews were not carried out by Ray Hooper with the support of his Deputy, Tyhscha Cochrane.

Nor was it carried out by Acting CEO, Michael Keeble, with the support of his Deputy, Tyhscha Cochrane.

Acting CEO Graeme Simpson was requested to undertake the review and, although having the support of a Commissioner, James Best, and for a period of time Tyhscha Cochrane, he did nothing.

Acting CEO, Mark Dalcombe, was engaged to do the review but has been unable to do so because he has had no senior Public Service Officer support to allow him to undertake this potentially, time- consuming task. (Tyhscha Cochrane has only just returned from Maternity Leave.)

So it was (and still is) up to Shire of York Councillors to assist a highly paid, external contractor to review and amend, where necessary, up to 54 Local Government Area Policies that should have been done, in-house, under contracts of employment, by those already paid to do so. (The additional contracting cost should appear buried within the Materials and Contracts section of the Shire of York, Annual Report for the 2015-2016 Financial Year.)

Besides what they have already done, the Shire President and his fellow Councillors should be commended for Council’s public broadcast of what Council considers to be a reasonable explanation of the meaning of ‘policy’ when related to Local Government in York. (This was published within ’The Voice of York’ pages 6 and 7, The York & Districts Community Matters, February 2016 edition).

Former Acting CEO, Graeme Simpson, had a distinct problem with what a Local Government Area Policy meant, what constituted an amendment and what-on-earth was a guideline. So Council has publically set the record straight.

Once the Policy Review process is complete it will be up to the individual ratepayers to assess the impacts of the review and any amendments it contains

The fact that each Shire Council has to have its own, personalised Code of Conduct is a continuing anachronism that has led to well publicised Conflict of Interest investigations, in particular the acceptance of gifts. (It can be argued that the current Code of Conduct is not working,)

The Code of Conduct is regulated by The Local Government Act 1995, The Local Government (Administration) Regulations 1995 and The Local Government (Rules of Conduct) Regulations 2007 with some additions and amendments by individual Shire Councils.

In the Shire of York Council’s case, one such addition under Interaction with Employees says   1. This includes but is not confined to harassment and discrimination on the grounds of gender, pregnancy, age, race or ethnicity, religious belief or allegiance, nationality, political affiliation, marital status, disability or sexual orientation. (These are noble sentiments indeed, adapted from what began as The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, but for what reasons was it inserted in York’s Local Government Area Policy Review?)

What should be added is the WA Criminal Code Act, Compilation Act, 1913.

The current Minister for Local Government, Tony Simpson, recently set the ball rolling by demanding that Shire of York Councillors receive training. Once this process is completed, state wide, individual councillors should be made totally responsible for their own actions.

This should include, where a serious Policy breach has occurred, individual councillors forgoing their right to local government, ratepayer-funded  legal support, be forced to reimburse the full cost of what was the cause of the breach, fined an appropriate pecuniary penalty according to the level of severity of the breach and or, where necessary, incarcerated. (This will basically put the CCC out of business and stamp out breaches (even those myriad Minor Breaches) allegedly investigated by the Local Government Standards Panel.)

Another reason for some enthusiastic optimism is Councils’ policy regarding future Chief Executive Officers.

A major Key Performance Area (and quality of service indicator) will be that the CEO will be totally responsible for all staff including their initial employment, the standards set for their employment performance through their own Key Performance Indicators and any internal and external employee infractions that could denigrate the integrity of the Shire of York. (Putting it in a blunt context, if his staff do not perform to reasonable expectations, it’s the CEO’s head on the chopping block,)

There is one perceived anomaly that the Shire of York Council should see the necessity for it to be redressed. It is with regard to the monthly publication of ‘The Voice of York’ within the editorial pages of The York& Districts Community Matters Newspaper.

Although informative, it is still a form of propaganda, as a paid advertisement published for and on behalf of a Local Government, the Shire of York Council. It arguably crosses the boundaries regarding regulation of what is generally acceptable in the publication of government information in the print media.

It can be easily rectified by a small advisory notice within the pages of The Voice of York stating that the Voice of York is published on behalf of The Shire of York, 1 Joaquina Street, York WA 6302.

Should Council decide to seek a legal opinion on this then it can approach Media Lawyers such Allens (08) 9488 3700, Corrs, Chambers Westgarth on (08) 9460 1666, or alternatively the Australian Press Council on (02) 9261 1930.

For those who still do not wish any one to dwell on the past, remember the Shire of York mantra.
‘BUILDING ON OUR HISTORY TO CREATE OUR FUTURE’.

David Taylor

THREE STRIKES (Shire of York Annual Report 2014-15 Financial Year)

Western Australia has ‘Three Strikes’ Mandatory Sentencing Laws which basically mean, if you commit three criminal offences, you can go straight to jail, no matter what. 

Currently the Western Australian economy is in a parlous, degenerative state because of too great a reliance on the ‘Mining Boom’, now in rapid decline through a major downturn in Chinese economic growth.

This indicates that the second half of the ‘2015-16 Financial Year’ will see a marked reduction in State Government expenditure, including loans and grants (such as Royalties for Regions funding) , provided to WA’s Local Government Areas.

There is also the concern of a pending parliamentary upheaval with the Minister for Local Government, Tony Simpson, likely to be replaced in March. (The Premier has little choice but to do so as no government policy for major Local Government Area change has been successfully implemented since Simpson took office.)

Mr. Barnett’s publically stated opinion on ‘Local Government’, in general, is that it has some highly overpaid employees, its staffing levels are too high compared to the services actually delivered, it is pillaging the pockets of its ratepayers, its financial recording activities are considered incompetent by the Auditor General and some of these activities are giving the highly expensive Corruption and Crime Commission a reason to exist.

If a ‘Three Strikes’ policy was linked to the overall performance of Local Governments’ in Western Australia there would be an alarming number of councils in serious trouble.

Information provided in the Shire of York’s ‘Annual Report for the Year Ending June 30, 2015’ seems to verify some of the Premier’s adverse perceptions.

Two of the Shire of York’s Local Government Public Service Officers earned annual cash salary that placed them in the top 4 per cent of Australia’s wages and salary earners. This does not include the 30 per cent (at least) individual on-costs consisting of annual and long service leave, Superannuation entitlements, use of motor vehicles, use of corporate credit cards- and possible rental assistance.

This suggests that one of these officers’ total salary packages was around $225,000, the other, $250,000.

If you add the two other staff members whose salary cash component was in excess of $100,000, you will find just four staff members cost York ratepayers in the vicinity of $800,000, in 2014-15.

It is claimed that these officers were entitled to be paid within these salary bands. (Normally such salaries are based on a high level of performance linked to substantive Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) and compulsory levels of acquired tertiary qualifications, experience and achievement.)

Within the Shire of York offices there were also four designated Customer Services Officers and four Administration Support Officers, among the 26 administrative staff evaluated by the Shire as being a major part of its $3,478,180 ‘employee costs’. (The total number of staff employed throughout the 2014-15 reporting period was 42, with 11 resignations (and/ or terminations) and 5 new staff were hired.)

Materials and Contracts add another $2,988,116 as additional employee related on-costs. That is if ‘materials’ means what is used by Shire employees to deliver required services, and ‘contracts’ includes the hiring of third-parties to deliver services that Shire employees are unable to provide. 

In the last Financial Year, the senior Public Service Officers of the Shire of York delivered incoming revenue of $9,154,328 from a total expenditure of $9,532,115, a negative variance of $377,787.

It is claimed that there is a surplus of $1,998.492, fortified by a Government Financial Assistance Grant of $742,000. This will mean a reduction in such funding for the 2016-17 Financial Year, thereby diminishing  the amount of restorative roadworks and deferring a Tourist Walk Trail upgrade, indefinitely.

The loan for the purchase of the Old Convent School building and surrounds of $625,000, excluding  interest repayments, appears to be scheduled for this Financial Year with the potential to further reduce any form of State Government assistance to the Shire in 2015-16 and beyond.

As an example of Key Performance Areas (KPA’s) that are supposed to be instigated,  stimulated and supported  through Shire planning and development service, the value of building works within the Shire of York has fallen by 35 per cent since the 2012-13 Financial Year.

The tourism promotion and marketing of York, to assist in increasing tourism numbers, was $10,000 provided for regional area promotion of the Avon valley and $8,144 for local events with the potential to attract tourists. (A sum of $30,000 was held in trust on behalf of ‘The York Jazz Festival’ that no longer exists.)

So is the Shire of York Administration, especially its Senior Public Service Officers, currently meeting the reasonable expectations of the York community regarding its socio-economic aspirations and improvement in lifestyle? (That is- are they meeting what should be the KPI’s in all KPA’s?)

One method of evaluation is Situation, Task, Action, Result or (STAR).

The current Situation is that:-

1. In the Shire’s last reporting period, there was a shortfall of $377,787 between
    expenditure and revenue raised.

2. Approximately 26.5 per cent of the nominated surplus is a Government Financial
     Assistance Grant.

3. Around 70 per cent of all expenditure is employee- related, including all salary costs,
    materials (including plant and equipment), contracts and utilities

4. The value of building works has declined by a total of 35 per cent over three consecutive
    annual reporting periods.

5. In 2014-15, just 0.19 per cent of an annual expenditure of $9.532.115 was allocated to the
    marketing and promotion of York for any purpose, tourism or otherwise.

The Task is for ratepayers is to accept or reject this economic performance, bearing in mind that the variance in revenue to expenditure in the last Financial Year can be referred to as a minor form of insolvency.

 The Action is for the Shire of York Council to demand, from its Administration, that there is an annual growth rate, which at least matches the inflation rate, in all necessary, economic KPA’s- or York’s local economy will be in a recession.

The Result will depend on the Shire of York Council’s ability to ensure that the Shire of York Administration can meet benchmark KPI’s in all KPA’s.

A number of people in the York community insist that the past has to be forgotten so a brighter future can be realized.

What is here is the economic situation at present. So now you can work out the future!

David Taylor
York Ratepayer.