Holroyd Mayor Greg Cummings said the Public Democracy Rally, to take place at noon outside the NSW Parliament on Wednesday November 18, is standing up for local democracy and will be sending a very clear message to Premier Mike Baird that Councils and their communities won’t be bullied into being merged.
“November 18 is D-Day for 87 of the State’s Councils that have been deemed unfit as a result of IPART’s flawed assessment criteria,” Mayor Cummings said.
“Councils have been told we have to merge, or the Government will step-in and forcibly merge us, against the wishes of our communities.
“The Baird Government is holding a gun to our heads, but rest assured, we won’t be bullied into selling out our communities.
“We have a mandate from our Holroyd community to say ‘no’ to forced mergers. How can we possibly roll over and agree to merge when we are a very good Council that has proven itself to be financially viable now and into the future?
“The fact is the Government is using a flawed IPART assessment that has been widely condemned by the Parliamentary Inquiry into local government and by industry experts like professor Brian Dollery and Professor Graham Sansom, as the basis to sack Councils and force them to merge.
“Even the Government’s claim that Councils are losing a $1 million a day is just plain wrong. A simple tally of Sydney’s 41 Councils actually shows a total operating surplus of more than $357 million over the past 12 months. That’s $1 million a day in the black.
“The rally is standing up for local democracy by supporting the Mayors, Councillors, staff, ratepayers and businesses across NSW that have repeatedly told the Government that they don’t want to be forcibly merged.
“We will be telling Mr Baird and his Local Government Minister Paul Toole that we won’t give up the fight. If they want Council mergers then allow democracy to prevail by putting it to a referendum.
“Let the people decide, not the politicians.”
