Image: Residents rallying outside of Town Hall where the NSW Labor Conference was held. Photo: Save our Councils NSW/Facebook
By TILEAH DOBSON
During NSW Labor’s Conference over the weekend, delegates met with the NSW Demerger Alliance (DNA) and Residents for Deamalgamation and spoke on the issue of supporting councils that want to demerge.
The main point for residents was for Labor, should it succeed at the 2023 state election, to follow through on its current policy to support residents in councils that wish to demerge.
DNA spokesperson Grantley Ingram stated that it was “important to reinforce to the Labor Party just how angry and let-down communities are about the Liberal-National government’s forced mergers of their councils.”
“Bombala faces huge rate hikes, while council is bleeding thousands of dollars a week. This is nothing like we were told the Fit for Future policy would deliver,” he said.
“We are calling on Labor to keep its sensible policy on council demergers and local democracy.”
City Hub reached out and spoke with Ingram who took the conference as a positive result towards change.
“We had the opportunity to engage with many of the attendees and delegates as they were going in and have a very positive engagement with the majority of them,” Ingram said.
“And we were very pleased to talk to the USU representatives there also about the plight of the council’s staff in these merged councils.”
Ingram reiterated that residents in the merged councils have spoken up and “want out” and “want to demerge.”
“We’ve had the results in the Inner West where the community had the opportunity to vote and overwhelmingly voted to demerge.”
Support From Other Political Parties
It wasn’t just Labor who attended the rally, but members from the Inner West Council such as the Greens Councillors Justine Langford and Liz Atkins.
City Hub reached out and spoke with Cr Langford who voiced her support for the demerging of the councils and attended the rally “to remind Labor delegates that Labor committed to support de-amalgamation if residents expressed clear support through a local plebiscite.”
“I think de-amalgamation will be an election issue in the Inner West. I am concerned that despite Labor policy to support amalgamations, the NSW Labor will break their promise,” Cr Langford said.
“Residents of the former Marrickville, Ashfield and Leichhardt Councils have said loud and clear that they want their Councils back! You would have to question Labor’s motivation for not listening to the people and acting on their wishes. It’s time for Labor to make a firm commitment to fully support the de-amalgamation of Inner West Council. Residents deserve this reassurance.”
“It was encouraging to find that many delegates were receptive to our message.”
City Hub reached out to a few NSW Labor MPs for comment but none answered in time.
