Is this a private party or can anyone join?

What a strange political party is Greg Watson’s Shoalhaven Independents Group. Perhaps it holds regular dance parties, trivia nights and other fund-raisers but I have never heard of any. It appears to emerge from the shadows once every four years for the express purpose of fielding candidates at Council elections. Between times it appears to do nothing except collect donations, provided to the party, to the exclusion of other parties and candidates, in great philanthropic zeal by a select group of developers. Then, at election time it acts as a convenient vehicle for certain candidates to minimize their out-of-pocket campaign expenses by accessing some of this considerable warchest of funds. (Approximately $90,000 at the 2004 election.)

The party also removes the burden of all that paperwork associated with keeping records of donations and expenditure etc as now required under recently passed, NSW State Government legislation.

Take the case of the off-again, on-again campaign of former real estate agent and soon-to-be property developer Cr Willmot. The South Coast Register (15.8.08) reported that Cr Willmot felt obliged to rejoin the Shoalhaven Independents Group party despite having resigned after a “huge blue” with party leader Greg Watson. What obliged him? “The cost of audits and the requirements to have a registered officer means you have to run with a party”.

What terrible fate then awaits the thirty-eight truly independent candidates in the Shoalhaven and the thousands more around the state? How will they cope with all that paperwork, post-election?

Perhaps Cr Willmot is not good with paperwork, although this begs the question of how he managed as a real estate agent and causes me considerable worry about his effectiveness as a Councillor.

But more importantly I would like to know on what basis Cr Willmot was readmitted to the party he left so abruptly? What undertakings were he required to make? Or can anyone join the Shoalhaven Independents Group and have their campaign funded by the development lobby?

Picking the Spin

It's nearly that time again.

That's right, on Sept 13 we get to vote again and exercise our democratic right to elect the very best of us to high office. In this case we are being asked to elect a new Shoalhaven City Council.

But this time let's do it right. Pay no attention to the extensive advertising campaign about to be unleashed by the incumbent Shoalhaven Independents Group Party (SIG) led by longtime Mayor, Greg Watson. The Group is anything but 'independent'. It is a fully registered political party.

Instead, pay close attention to the facts-

1. this Council is controlled by one party led by one dominant individual.
2. the dominant party is funded by a number of large developers, many of which have benefitted from recent decisions of this Council.
3. this Council has made a number of decisions which are directly opposed to the community interest and often in the face of contrary advice from council officers and/or the Dept. of Local Government.
4. this Council has been and is the subject of several inquiries by the Dept. of Local Government.
5. several prominent local citizens including former State Member John Hatton have called for the activities of this Council to be investigated by ICAC.
6. long term dominance of any level of government by any one political group/party or individual is unhealthy and can lead to bad government.

Do not be fooled by claims that the economy of the Shoalhaven will collapse if the Watson crew are no longer in control. We already have an unacceptable level of unemployment and under-employment.

When times are tough economically we need governments, at all levels, that are sympathetic to the needs of citizens as individuals not too busy to listen because big business has bought their ear.

Ignore the spin, hit straight down the line.