DUBBO CITY LIFE
Our new councillors
THE results of the Dubbo Regional Council Election held on Saturday, September 9, have now been officially declared.
Our 10 newly elected councillors, in the order released by the Returning Officer, are: Dubbo Central Ward
John Ryan Vicki Etheridge Dubbo East Ward
Dayne Gumley Stephen Lawrence Dubbo North Ward
Jane Diffey Ben Shields Dubbo South Ward
Greg Mohr Kevin Parker Wellington Ward
David Grant Anne Jones These 10 citizens will represent us for three years with the next ordinary election scheduled for 2020.
I have been asked to include the number of votes each successful candidate received, and I’ve passed that request to our editorial team, however I’m not sure of the relevance of that under the Wards system. If there were only two or three standing in one ward, each of those three are more likely to score a higher vote count that any individual who stood in a Ward against, say, five others. In all likelihood, the available votes, which are roughly equal in each Ward, would be spread more thinly where the number of candidates was higher.
Where to from here?
AS we reported last week, Member for Dubbo Troy Grant is at least one leader who has flagged the possibility of a referendum on the Wards system that proved controversial and confusing to many voters in the local election.
There are various theories on how that may pan out, and one of the front-runners is a two-ward system, with Wellington as one ward and the balance falling into the other. The theory with this option is it gives Wellington residents some assurance that they’ll have local representation in a council area that would otherwise by dominated by the larger Dubbo population centre.
I have a hunch the ward system could stay, albeit in a revised form. The high level of confusion caused when it was implemented here could have been better handled, but the fact that wards are common in council areas around Australia may be reason enough for the powers-that-be to do their best to keep it in place for the Dubbo Regional Council now that it’s here.
Speaking of consistency...
ONE of the other big issues to come out of the September 9 local election is the “how to vote” instructions. When will voting in Australia become consistent? It would be far, far better to have one standardised method of voting for all elections.
At the moment, depending on whether you’re voting in a federal, state or local election, you do or don’t have to number all squares, you can or can’t just place the number “1” in one box, whether you vote above or below the line may or may not effect how you fill out your ballot paper, and so on.
If anyone is looking for a reason for the high informal vote on September 9, start with the inconsistent voting system. Make it consistent so that we don’t have to adapt and retrain ourselves every time we go to the polls.
The very few who tarnish most of us
MY comment here last week that the way some people conducted themselves during the local election campaign was “embarrassing for Dubbo” struck chord with our readers. I’ve received more support for that comment in the past week than for any other comment this year.
It’s good to know I’m not alone in believing that the behaviour of some people was atrocious. I’m not singling out candidates here – much of the poor conduct came from individuals who weren’t candidates and weren’t backing any particular candidate – they simply had an axe to grind... apparently.
It’s a bit like the spectator sitting in the stands at the footy who yells abuse at the ref or players on the field. Most people nearby the individual would probably put up with it for a while, but if it became too abusive, too personal, too vindictive and too nasty, then the individual would be escorted from the grounds.
Ponder this thought for a moment: what would Dubbo be like if we booted over-abusive people out of our city?
Congrats to the Carnival winners
WELL done to the Henkes-jones family who were lucky enough to pick up tickets, courtesy of Dubbo Regional Theatre, to see Carnival of the Animals last Saturday.
My family and I went along too – and it was fantastic!
There was a fair bit on last weekend, including junior sports grand finals, so it was a smaller crowd than this very family-friendly show deserved. But for those who did go along, we were treated to a great show, complete with highly skilled circus-gymnastics style performers, clever backdrops and some funny moments of interaction with the Dubbo audience. Thumbs up!
Our NAIDOC edition for 2017
LAST, but certainly not least, Dubbo Photo News is very pleased to bring you today’s special NAIDOC themed edition. You’ll find lots of ‘good news’ stories inside, lots of information about services available, and on page 21 there’s a program of major NAIDOC events happening in Dubbo over the next eight days. Get involved and enjoy!
My particular thanks to Frances Rowley from Dubbo Photo News who has put a lot of time and effort into making this edition such a success, and to everyone in the wider Dubbo community who has helped along the way too.