Mayor fumes over capital city Act move
The State Government appears to have alienated its biggest ally in council reform, with Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi criticising plans to introduce capital city legislation in February, saying it is rushed and "deeply disappointing".
In a fiery address to the City of Perth council last night, Ms Scaffidi said the "grossly ambitious" time frame sent a "concerning message about the Government's understanding and appreciation of the magnitude of this process".
"One can only hope that this process is not designed to simply remove the amalgamation of the City of Perth and the City of Vincent from any possible election debate," she said.
"The City of Perth has always been very supportive of the need for this . . . but you don't hurry something as significant as this through, and one must ask why the hurry?
"That is really the big question over this whole discussion . . . what's the rush?"
The proposed City of Perth Act is intended to expand the borders of the city to take in the neighbouring City of Vincent, the University of WA, Kings Park and QEII Medical Centre.
Perth had been one of the biggest supporters of the Government's local government reform process, including the proposed Act.
Ms Scaffidi and Perth chief executive Gary Stevenson met Local Government Minister Tony Simpson yesterday for what Ms Scaffidi described as a "hurriedly convened" meeting and were told to expect background papers within days and that meetings would start on January 5.
She said as a result of that meeting she had cancelled three weeks of planned leave over the Christmas-New Year period.
Mr Simpson said consultation had started on the legislation and an advisory group to the minister would meet next month to liaise with relevant stakeholders and advise the minister.
He said the Act would cover the vision for the capital city, boundaries, representation including wards and the number of councillors, and other matters, giving the City of Perth the recognition it deserved as a capital city. 'That is really the big question . . . what's the rush?'" Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi
