The Noosa Council General Committee Meeting of Monday 15 July
There’s an emergency! Quick, call the TV cameras
Around the world, local governments – more than 700 so far – have been declaring climate change emergencies as part of a global movement to make people more aware of the threats posed by the super storms, extreme temperatures, sea level rises and other potential dangers facing an imperilled planet.
So it was Noosa’s turn to declare; first in Queensland it seems. But whereas the rest of the world had decided to focus on the planet, some genius in Noosa decided the story could be usefully heated up (if you’ll excuse the pun) by referring to the 2,232 local properties that would be endangered by the coastal erosion, flooding and inundation expected to be wrought by climate change.
So cue three television stations and a clutch of reporters, tinker with the general meeting agenda to give pride of place to a resolution declaring a climate emergency in Noosa, and sit back and enjoy the spectacle and reap the headlines. What could go wrong?
Well, what could go wrong was telling up to 8,000 people that their homes will be endangered without having anything to tell them about what Noosa Council might be doing about it. It was like yelling abandon ship having forgotten to stow the lifeboats.
Mayor Tony Wellington began at a canter. He was critical of climate change deniers. He was critical of federal government emissions claims. He was critical of coal and gas exports. As a coastal town, we are vulnerable, he said. But he failed to mention the 2,000 plus properties used as click bait to get the media through the front door that morning.
This was left to Cr Ingrid Jackson, who said declaring a climate emergency was fine and necessary but the council should also be concerned for the thousands of people in those 2,200 affected properties. She moved an amendment to the mayor’s emergency declaration to indicate what Noosa Council would do to reassure the people most likely to be affected by it.
Specifically, the amendment asked the Council to commit to fully informing property owners that their homes and businesses are affected, to assist them take steps to protect their properties, to advise them of the steps the Council would take to protect them and, in cases where property could be protected, to advise the owners of what alternative steps are available to them.
The amendment was derided by the mayor who called for it to be declared out of order. But chairman Cr Frank Wilkie ruled the amendment could be debated whereupon it was and duly defeated 6-1, with Cr Jackson showing once again she was the only councillor in the room with any understanding or empathy for the position of residents.
Cr Jackson’s concerns were valid and should have been heeded by the mayor and other councillors. If the Council claims properties are at risk then surely it has a duty to indicate a comprehensive response to that risk. If the ship looks like sinking, at least provide directions to the lifeboats.
Then the TV cameras and most media personnel left. The climate emergency was over for another day.
Conflicts, surf clubs and upstairs rooms
Back in March I wrote about a Council resolution calling for expressions of interest for community use of the top floor of the Peregian Beach Surf Club building. I said at the time that the proposition seemed mundane but represented a critical skirmish in a bitter conflict between different factions of the Peregian community.
Surf Life Saving Queensland (SLSQ) had suggested without long term control of the full clubhouse it would not be able to offer a lifesaving operation for Peregian. But that didn’t seem to concern Noosa Council. Mayor Wellington said an EOI was the best and fairest way to determine use of the top floor and said he’d already received a range of options from various community groups. Back then the motion for an EOI was put and passed 6-1 (Cr Jackson opposed, arguing legal advice was needed).
Well, at this month’s meeting, with the EOI almost resolved, a link seemed to be established between mayor Wellington and deputy mayor Frank Wilkie and their campaign donor Barry Cotterell, who had been associated as vice-president of one of the entities bidding for the top floor, the mysterious Ocean Life Saving Association.
As a result, both Wellington and Wilkie declared a perceived conflict of interest but, on a vote of councillors, were allowed to stay and participate in proceedings. Fortunately the selection committee had opted for the SLSQ bid, not the one that may have been associated with the campaign funds donor, which probably saved Wellington and Wilkie from a right royal mess.
Cr Jackson then proposed an amendment that saw her winning a rare vote. It was to ensure that the Peregian Beach Surf Life Saving Club would be eligible for both community grants and other council contributions for infrastructure. On this occasion the 6-1 vote saw Cr Joe Jurisevic in the minority because he thought the amendment was “redundant”. But as a result of the amendment, the new surf club will be given more of a helping hand as it services the beach needs of the people of Peregian.
The council finds a new way to spend $1.2 million
I don’t know for sure but I think Noosa Council has found a new NBRF. It’s called The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and it’s the happy recipient of $1.2 million in the form of a council grant to spend on, wait for it, more oyster reefs to, ahem, “bring back the fish”. We know what happened to the last lot of reefs; most ending up at the Noosa tip where there’s not an oyster or a fish to be seen.
This deal was originally going to be a partnership between the Council and TNC but apparently that may have been too transparent an arrangement, so the council instead will just give the money away. Things got off to a rocky start when Cr Jess Glasgow moved the motion to do just that then refused to speak to it. Well he got his name in the minutes.
The previous (failed) oyster reef caper in Noosa River cost the Council around $300,000 and, as I understand it, the Council has no idea where in the river and lakes system this one will be sited. The CEO didn’t know but he did believe there would be a “new design” and “new modelling”.
Director Kim Rawlings said marine activity on the river was a problem with the first lot of artificial reefs and it was necessary to prevent damage to the new reefs. Well, yes. Nice thinking. By this point I’d heard enough and thought I might make a noisy exit. But I have a duty to you, dear reader. For me it boiled down to the Council gifting TNC (an organisation associated with Dr Gloster) $1.2 million for another oyster reef experiment but don’t ask for details because there aren’t any.
Mayor Wellington insisted the Council was “getting a lot for our money” whereupon Cr Jackson asked why the previously mooted partnership was now an alliance or a grant. The CEO said it was an “alliance agreement”, which he claimed as being better than a partnership because the Council would avoid being liable for TNC expenditure. So we’ll give ’em $1.2 million and not be liable for their expenditure.
Cr Jackson asked if there would be a detailed budget. Ms Rawlings said yes but it was still undecided. Brilliant, I thought, here’s $1.2 million and the donor doesn’t know how it’s going to be spent. Cr Jackson then asked how spending would be tracked. There was no answer that I heard. Cr Jackson wondered why study tours were included. Ms Rawlings responded that these were “an option”. Sicily, I thought.
Cr Jackson said she would support the agreement, though not completely happy with it. I was profoundly disappointed by that; I reckon she should have rejected the whole thing. I couldn’t believe that after a failed trial, the Council was giving money away to another mob to do the same thing all over again. This is the longest con in history. Fool me once and you can keep fooling me seemed to be the message. The motion was passed unanimously. A most disappointing conclusion.
Everyone proceeded to sing happy birthday for Cr Frank Pardon’s seventieth birthday and Cr Jackson left for overseas (wish I could have joined her).
The great pretence in capital spending continues
And a final note on one of my favourite topics. Noosa Council seems to have ‘fixed’ its capital spending undershoots by the simple sleight of hand of adjusting the targets right up until the last minute. Its latest claim that it achieved a 96% completion rate is akin to Kim Jong-Il claiming 99% of North Koreans voted for him and the other 1% were in intensive care.
The Council’s financial report, always left until last on the agenda such is its importance, seems to have been manufactured after the budget review committee deleted some projects and tinkered with some others. Looks to me like more sleight of hand by a desperate council.
