Power Grab
Back when the NSW government decided to merge the South Sydney and City of Sydney Councils, they attempted to stack the new government with a mayor and councillors of their choice, only to be rebuffed on election day, when Clover Moore, an independent, got the mayoralty and was able to bring a sympathetic majority into office with her. The purpose of the merger was always about getting the property-development money from the city into the south and then into State coffers, because the Carr government mismanages its revenues, requiring an ever-increasing cash flow to just keep going. There is no long-term under Bob Carr. Unfortunately, there is no opposition worth voting for, so the system is stacked against the citizen. An independent executive with real power would be very worthwhile right about now, to my thinking, but I’m bringing a bit of political-system baggage to my analysis. Lord Mayor Moore’s upset victory, however, may prove somewhat hollow, as the NSW government owns a significant part of Redfern, an area now plan to develop with or without the city’s participation or consent, let alone keeping the citizenry informed. God knows, Redfern needs help, and urban reform projects including some of what’s being proposed here have worked very well elsewhere, but is that what’s happening, or is the Carr government selling off public land to create revenue from private development? Is the Aboriginal community there part of the planning, or are they going to be dispersed around the city without consultation? Carr’s got a heavy-handed style, especially lately, as the city’s infrastructure crumbles out from under him, after billions of misspent dollars, so I know which way my suspicions trend.