Inner west unites against government administrator

BY CHRISTOPHER HARRIS

Inner west residents shouted down the administrator of a newly elected council at its first meeting on Tuesday night.

Chanting “stop WestConnex”, the crowd forced newly appointed administrator Richard Pearson to collect his things and leave the meeting.

Residents and protesters, furious with the government’s decision last fortnight to sack the council, did not relent until Pearson left.

Outside, councillors and a local MP Jenny Leong had addressed the crowd, angry that local democracy will not be an option for the next 18 months as the construction of the $16.8 Billion WestConnex roadway continues in the inner west.

Ms Leong said that the sacking of the council coinciding with the WestConnex project was dangerous.

“We know this administrator has no legitimacy, and we will not give him any respect, not for him as a person, but because he was not elected to represent us, he is not representing our interests, and we are not interested in him deliberating and deciding what is in the best interest of our community.”

Ms Leong also said the administrator would be a single person raising minutes, deliberating on decisions and discussing with himself and then determining, was met with laughter from the crowd.

In a media release last week, Mr Pearson said he would work with councillors to ensure the voice of inner west residents was heard by the state government

“I believe that my experience with the State Government will in fact help me to make our voice even stronger,” he said in a media release last week.

The crowd laughed after Ms Leong repeated this claim by Mr Pearson.

“The fact that our community will be destroyed over the next period of time while this administrator sits in here and tries to make allegedly objective and reasoned decisions with himself about what’s in the interest of our community is just completely unacceptable,” Ms Leong said.

Speaking at the meeting former Ashfield Mayor , Lucille McKenna said the government’s choice of sacking the councils was “just disgusting”.

“The actions of this government are nothing short of an absolute disgrace, they are attacking our communities on every level. We are now 18 months without democracy and God knows what can happen.”

WestCONnex Action Group spokesperson Pauline Lockie said it was no coincidence that the councils that opposed the WestConnex had been sacked.

“This is just the latest in a very long line of assaults Mike Baird has placed upon our democratic rights in order to bulldoze WestConnex through.

“We have seen him give this project special designation that means it is immune from legal challenges that would be expected with a development like this. People’s homes, including my own, and businesses have been taken away. Construction works has started and construction contracts were signed, before any planning approvals were granted.”