NEWS Mayor denies plan to take McCarthy’s seat
SCOTT Morrison has called for calm heads to prevail when world events are “quiet convulsive”.
“It is a time for calm heads, for measured conversations, for seeking to de-escalate things rather than escalate them,” the Prime Minister said after addressing a South Australian Liberal Party conference yesterday.
“That is certainly Australia’s approach.”
His soothing comments came after an extremely volatile week on global financial markets as fears of a US recession swirled and the USChina trade war continued to bite, which at one stage saw the Australian share market shed $60 billion in one day.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg insists the foundations of the Australian economy are strong in the face of domestic and international challenges. TENNANT Creek Mayor Steve Edgington has hosed down a suggestion he is gunning for Member for Barkly Gerry McCarthy’s seat at next year’s Territory election.
In a speech to parliament this week, Mr McCarthy questioned whether the Country Liberals had preselected Mr Edgington to run against him after Opposition Leader Gary Higgins quoted one of the Barkly Mayor’s social media posts.
“It would seem Mr Edgington enjoys playing politics with his CLP mates, including aspiring to an alternative political career, possibly abandoning his commitment for serving a full term as Mayor in Tennant Creek and the Barkly,” Mr McCarthy said.
But Mr Edgington said he was happy in his current role.
“I’m the Mayor of the Barkly Regional Council and I’m not aware of any preselections going on in the Barkly,” he said. “I’m the Mayor and I’m happy in my role as the Mayor.”
Mr McCarthy’s speech came in response to a Facebook post in which Mr Edgington called for greater consultation from the Territory Government on the new Local Government Act and the MLA accused the Mayor of dragging his feet in his former role as a senior public servant. “After six years of consultation and a draft bill, Mayor Edgington, via Facebook, demands the NT Government conduct more consultation after significant time as the most senior public servant in the Barkly, supposedly leading the process,” he said. “However, Mayor Edgington now spends serious time on Facebook and Twitter complaining about the government.”
In response to the speech, which also appeared in Friday’s Tennant & District Times, Mr Edgington pointed out he had served in his government role under both CLP and Labor administrations.
“What we’re seeing from the Labor Government this time is that there’s very little consultation with the community in the Barkly,” he said. “What we need to see is that all of the people in the Barkly are included in the decision-making process and have a chance to put up their views before legislation and policy is passed by this government.”