WOLLONGONG CITY COUNCIL MARCH 2008
The Illawarra Greens are dismayed at the level of corruption exposed during the Independent Commission Against Corruption investigations. However, it is clear that corruption has existed in Wollongong City Council for many years, and its roots spread wide and deep.
Three of the last five Lord Mayors have been found to have engaged in illegal conduct. The remaining two Lord Mayors have been shown to have received considerable amounts of funding from developers.
The Illawarra Greens prefer that an election be held in September 2008 as for the remainder of NSW. We continue to call for an election to be held for Wollongong City Council as soon as possible. However, given that the Council has been sacked by the NSW Government, and that administrators are now charged with removing corruption within Council, we believe that the following steps are necessary to restore trust and lead us out of the current situation:
1. Ban corporate donations to political parties and individual political candidates
While parties and individuals continue to receive large amounts of money from the property development sector, there remains the risk of decisions being tainted by the need to satisfy the wishes of donors.
2. Introduce proportional representation to Wollongong and Shellharbour local governments
The current voting system is used in only a small minority of Councils in NSW, and results in the dominance of one group in each ward and the risk of entrenched relationships. By introducing proportional representation (through moving to four wards of three Councillors), the elected Council will begin to comprise a more dynamic mix of groups which more closely represents the wishes of the voting public.
3. Re-introduce fully-supported community consultation measures, such as neighbourhood committees and specialist consultative committees
The previous Council deleted the six neighbourhood committees, environmental committee, heritage committee and Aboriginal committee, amongst others. To improve transparency and responsiveness to community expectations, it is necessary to re-introduce consultative committees.
4. Review all major controversial development proposals in Wollongong over the last five years
There are a large number of developments which have either been approved, are under assessment, or are mooted for the future, which must be re-examined in light of the risk of corrupt decisions having been made in the past.
5. Support calls for a Royal Commission into links between the business and political sectors in Wollongong and NSW
The Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation of 2007-2008 uncovered a range of bad practices in Council and with links to State Government. A more in-depth and wide-ranging investigation is necessary to establish the full extent of corrupt relationships between business and political sectors.
Such an investigation should include a full review of the processes which have allowed corruption to flourish within Wollongong and NSW, and a comprehensive set of recommendations for change.
Jill Merrin, Convenor, Illawarra Greens, 0422 655 711, smallpond@fishinternet.com.au