Victoria: Watch The Otway Election
State government meddling in the democratic process is about to reach yet another turning point; The kind where you find yourself well behind after too much careless talk about "moving forward". Brumbies legislation to try and remove parochial and personal preoccupations is, acccording to the Age thursday , hamfisted, at best .
We agree .
-Will those locally who encouraged the removal of councillors under the idea that " you can't vote on something you are passionate about" get back?
It's blatantly obvious from talking to most of our 21 candidates locally, that many are reluctant to state the specific things they " are likely to want to change" . So much for encouraging free speech about specifics ; our people don't now feel free to speak freely . Great outcome for democracy , I don't think!
What about all the things we also want to hear about . The future of Colanda, the halt to decades of window dressing around the lake , the place for tertiary global connection,
And then there is this kneejerk reaction to getting rid of the Wards here - we will live to regret or reinstate them, methinks . The previous governments reduction of Council numbers to 7 would have made more sense to review than the encouragement to remove Ward boundaries. How workable will Colac Otway shire be if we get even just 2 candidates from Apollo bay? ( a quite likely scenario to get at least 2) And there is only candidate of the 21 from Colac itself - brilliant !.
The key issue with the sacking was the very widespread recognition from those who know the area and its limits that the environmental assesment was not adequate. Maybe they should have voted ,but like Voltaire said is you are going to offer yourself for sacrifice make the cause worthwhile.
What would you do if you knew the development was going going to leave Council and hundreds of householders without a penny in their pockets ? What would you do if independant advisors, at their own expense told you that people who bought to build on the filled area would never get insurance.( Ask for that advice in detail form the Public relations officer? No try here )
Council/ counsellors must be more convincing too BEFORE they sign up for us . Employing a public relations officer or railroading the controversial is no way to be convincing!!! The remaining old councillors risk losing any credibility they may have in the responsibility stakes by
1. Voting at the last minute to establish the library shift ; just before the chance the community might have had to say No to what they were saying, or modifying it.
2.Claiming " we need to be decisive" but not doing anything with the bypass report - big dollars again for what?
3.They get in to " do something about the lake" - and what have they done? What decent review is available now at the library on the lakes future ?
4 They pay for full page defences of developers wisdom, but not full page ads of why they acted or didn't act on the above.
At this election, either the people will be wrong, or the law will be. If its the later, the councillors and the people will remain as close to divorce as they are now.
Why in the world would the remaining old councillors what to be remembered for supporting and testing some of the most reactionary, inadequate and illframed legislation in Victorias history?
Quite clearly, the councillor most likely to get the most votes here this month is the one the government of the day sacked; the one the government of the day would keep out of office with their new legislation. Something is either wrong with the law, or the people.
Many of us would back those who want to move on as long as they could convince us they are actually able to move us on sustainably-in other words, tell us what views they specifically represent - something the alliance members are notably not doing . "Trust them" - they say . "Why" the people will say, we pray !( later posted in on 15th November)
On the bigger issues at stake here for our liberal democracy,even many Fabians of old would, I am sure, have recognised that its better , if the people, and the dispassionate especially, are really noisy about an issue ,to hold back , to take more advice; and certainly not try to force feed us through the public relations officer. What a waste of our resources! "I may disagree vehemently with a man's opinion , but I will fight to my death( = not allow a publicrelations officer ???and even break the law now?) to defend the other man's right to put his point - something one trusts you can still do in a council meeting. "Who knows?
Supporting democracy is not about constraining it, but allowing it to be as inefficient as it best is. Copyright
We agree .
-Will those locally who encouraged the removal of councillors under the idea that " you can't vote on something you are passionate about" get back?
It's blatantly obvious from talking to most of our 21 candidates locally, that many are reluctant to state the specific things they " are likely to want to change" . So much for encouraging free speech about specifics ; our people don't now feel free to speak freely . Great outcome for democracy , I don't think!
What about all the things we also want to hear about . The future of Colanda, the halt to decades of window dressing around the lake , the place for tertiary global connection,
And then there is this kneejerk reaction to getting rid of the Wards here - we will live to regret or reinstate them, methinks . The previous governments reduction of Council numbers to 7 would have made more sense to review than the encouragement to remove Ward boundaries. How workable will Colac Otway shire be if we get even just 2 candidates from Apollo bay? ( a quite likely scenario to get at least 2) And there is only candidate of the 21 from Colac itself - brilliant !.
The key issue with the sacking was the very widespread recognition from those who know the area and its limits that the environmental assesment was not adequate. Maybe they should have voted ,but like Voltaire said is you are going to offer yourself for sacrifice make the cause worthwhile.
What would you do if you knew the development was going going to leave Council and hundreds of householders without a penny in their pockets ? What would you do if independant advisors, at their own expense told you that people who bought to build on the filled area would never get insurance.( Ask for that advice in detail form the Public relations officer? No try here )
Council/ counsellors must be more convincing too BEFORE they sign up for us . Employing a public relations officer or railroading the controversial is no way to be convincing!!! The remaining old councillors risk losing any credibility they may have in the responsibility stakes by
1. Voting at the last minute to establish the library shift ; just before the chance the community might have had to say No to what they were saying, or modifying it.
2.Claiming " we need to be decisive" but not doing anything with the bypass report - big dollars again for what?
3.They get in to " do something about the lake" - and what have they done? What decent review is available now at the library on the lakes future ?
4 They pay for full page defences of developers wisdom, but not full page ads of why they acted or didn't act on the above.
At this election, either the people will be wrong, or the law will be. If its the later, the councillors and the people will remain as close to divorce as they are now.
Why in the world would the remaining old councillors what to be remembered for supporting and testing some of the most reactionary, inadequate and illframed legislation in Victorias history?
Quite clearly, the councillor most likely to get the most votes here this month is the one the government of the day sacked; the one the government of the day would keep out of office with their new legislation. Something is either wrong with the law, or the people.
Many of us would back those who want to move on as long as they could convince us they are actually able to move us on sustainably-in other words, tell us what views they specifically represent - something the alliance members are notably not doing . "Trust them" - they say . "Why" the people will say, we pray !( later posted in on 15th November)
On the bigger issues at stake here for our liberal democracy,even many Fabians of old would, I am sure, have recognised that its better , if the people, and the dispassionate especially, are really noisy about an issue ,to hold back , to take more advice; and certainly not try to force feed us through the public relations officer. What a waste of our resources! "I may disagree vehemently with a man's opinion , but I will fight to my death( = not allow a publicrelations officer ???and even break the law now?) to defend the other man's right to put his point - something one trusts you can still do in a council meeting. "Who knows?
Supporting democracy is not about constraining it, but allowing it to be as inefficient as it best is. Copyright
posted by Modi at 8:10 AM
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