Forced council mergers shrouded in secrecy

Gundagai, Lockhart and Tumbarumba mayors have slammed local government minister Paul Toole for keeping them in the dark after Fairfax Media revealed the independent Boundaries Commission delegates’ reports would not be publicly released as expected.

Mr Toole has the reports on his desk but does not intend to make them public or available to councils before he decides on mergers, which Tumbarumba mayor Ian Chaffey described as typical of the “clandestine process”.

“The right hand is not allowed to know what the left hand is doing because the government doesn't want to be open to scrutiny,” Cr Chaffey said.

“The community deserves enough respect to at least be consulted in the merger process.

“I thought we were a mature enough state to aspire to transparency, but it would appear not.”

Lockhart mayor Peter Yates had hoped the release of the report would boost morale among councillors, council staff and residents who had grown weary of the government’s cloak and dagger campaign.

“We're in the dark, we don't know where we're up to – we’re a boat without a rudder,” Cr Yates said.

“It lowers the morale of staff and some of the councillors, because we're elected to represent these communities but we don't know which direction we're going. 

“Of course we would like to see what the delegate has recommended or thinks of the different proposals, because it could quite possibly determine the fate of our local government.”

The NSW government faced similar scrutiny in January when it failed to produce a $400,000 report by accountancy firm KPMG, which it relied upon to justify reducing the regional councils from 109 to 87.

A spokesman for Mr Toole said “the minister is awaiting the reports of the Boundaries Commission and will review them when received, along with the reports of the delegates, ahead of any decision.”

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