PUT MAJORITY FIRST, TWEED
TWEED shire councillors need to shake themselves from their ideological fantasy and do the job they were elected to do.
The region is yearning for good governance.
Consider these clangers of recent times: The council went to war with offshore broadcaster Granada, which pours money into the shire as it films the I’m A Celebrity UK and German series; opposed the NSW Government’s gift of a new hospital; baulked at the instrument landing system for Gold Coast Airport; and tried to stop filming for the movie Aquaman at Hastings Point.
As crazy as those decisions were, they were dwarfed by the move to blacklist contractors linked to the Adani coal mine project more than 1200km away in central Queensland. In justifying the ludicrous step last year, Cr Chris Cherry said it was about making a stand: “It’s about saying the Adani mine is not OK, it’s not what the public want …”
The ridiculous rhetoric was used in opposition to a badly needed hospital at Cudgen. In looking to protect farmland, activists were confident the $580 million project would be shelved with a Labor victory at the NSW election. The result? Tweed’s hospital-loving National Geoff Provest extended his margin by 1.8 per cent.
It was a similar scene weeks later in the federal poll when Queenslanders carried Scott Morrison to an unlikely win on the back of the Adani mine deal. Cr Cherry was wrong. The public did want it.
As the Bulletin has reported previously, disqualifying companies from submitting tenders means less competition. It also means the most competitive submissions could be lost before the process even starts. That can only lead to an impact on ratepayers, either through the quality of the work or the costs to the shire.
What the people want is to be able to put food on the table for their children.
The Tweed councillors need to smell the wind. History shows they are governing for a minority to suit a green agenda, but it is cruelling potential powerhouse that is quickly gaining a reputation as being closed for business.