The beginning of the end of the same old ‘law and order’ politics in Dubbo?

THAT was the question that crossed my mind as I sat in the council chamber last Thursday night and listened to Ben Shields make his first speech as Mayor.

Our new Mayor promised to fund staff project officer positions to work towards initiatives, “to help people and families break the link between intergenerational social disadvantage and substance abuse, criminal behavior and other social problems.”

He went on to commit to fighting for a Drug Court, a local residential rehabilitation centre, a Koori Youth Court and a ‘Justice Reinvestment” pilot project. He undertook to support the creation of a new committee of council to oversee these projects and others.

Many of these initiatives are of course beyond the immediate power of local government to fund or operate.

But, what Dubbo Regional Council can do is facilitate community driven projects and lead the push for state, federal and private sector funded programs.

A new committee, consisting of the right people and supported by paid staff, will be a powerful start.

What was significant though, wasn’t just the words, but who uttered them.

Ben Shields has been a presence on the right wing in Dubbo politics for a long time. I won’t malign my new colleague too much, suffice to say he has done more than his fair share of tub thumping in the past when it comes to law and order issues, without always being focused on what I would regard as positive solutions.

It doesn’t take a political genius to map out the possible political permutations for the 2019 state election.

What Mayor Shields has done in his speech is to create a concrete set of demands around real law and order change. Some have already been the subject of broken promises in the past. Troy Grant promised at the last state election a Drug Court and residential rehabilitation centre to work with it. He told NITV on March 17, 2015, that they were “close to being finalised”. Readers can hear the promise being made at the following link: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=qbakrtkkfna

Well it hasn’t happened. Troy Grant has done things for the city, as is expected of a local member, but he lacks a signature achievement on social policy. I suspect even he would admit it.

At the next state election, the Nationals might well be judged on how much of the new council’s vision on crime and social dysfunction it has assisted to implement. I will be certainly be making sure the community knows precisely what the problems are and what the real solutions are. And, I now have a platform in government.

The mayoral election was followed immediately by an address to council and the public by local Wiradjuri man Robert Riley.

Rob is a social entrepreneur and passionate about the Aboriginal community social issues he is fighting to address in his daily work. It was really an extraordinary scene. Rob strode down onto the council floor, took a seat and proceeded to blast the assembled councillors and staff with his vision for social change in Dubbo, some of it critical of council.

Just as importantly he frankly acknowledged the reality of crime and dysfunction. It was great stuff. The Mayor said he hopes to have created a new tradition, where the night of the mayoral election becomes an opportunity for a leading community representative to also take the floor and have their say on an important issue.

A great tradition it will be. Staying on the issue of the mayoral election. I was as relieved to see it over with, as was my colleague Councillor John Ryan. From the night of the council election the pressure had slowly ratcheted up on us both.

On the day of the vote I received two phone calls that I can only describe as unsavoury and unprincipled. Earlier I had been inundated with calls and messages in which people generally didn’t raise policy, but rather personality and strong personal animosity.

I followed the social media during and after the council elections closely and was deeply unimpressed with the contributions of some, many of whom really should know better.

For those that are interested in the machinations of mayoral elections and not just for fish and chip wrapping. I made a decision shortly after the election to support Councillor Shields, subject to two core conditions.

My read of the situation was that with four solid votes of the ten and John Ryan abstaining, he would get the numbers without me unless I acted.

My conditions were that he support a Wellington deputy and that we have a successful dialogue on policy priorities. He agreed to both and we successfully engaged in the latter. I wanted a united council, a Mayor with strong communication skills and a council with a commitment to real change.

In the end the Wellington councillors voted for Kevin Parker, but still got a Wellington deputy. I am proud of my role in that outcome.

Before the council meeting we had the opportunity to express our views on whether the mayoral ballot should be secret or by an open show of hands. I strongly supported an open show of hands, as did the other councillors.

I had no intention of hiding my decision. I did multiple media interviews immediately afterwards, live radio the next morning and explained the decision in detail on social media. Despite the dire warnings and lobbying in the lead up, most people accepted my explanation and seemed to respect it.

The main thing coming out of the process for me is a renewed determination to maintain a civilised and reasoned tone in my approach to politics. We are all tribal and emotional creatures, but we are acting on our better instincts when we put policy over personality, respect over denigration and kindness over hate.

Stephen Lawrence is a Dubbo-based Barrister. He is now an elected councillor serving Dubbo Regional Council.