Suburban Scrawl

I am going to make an embarrassing admission. Younger and more naive than now, in early 2004 I casually walked into the Logan Village polling booth and helped elect Joy Drescher as Mayor of Beaudesert Shire. Sure, I put Ms Drescher 7th out of 8, but I put her main competition 8th. Now, I have met Ms Drescher, and she was nice enough, but our politics are rather different. I would not have chosen to help elect a member of the Nationals as Mayor.

Realising my crime, I became annoyed by the lack of honesty and transparency in the whole local government election process. All of the candidates claimed to be "independent" but rarely were they genuine independents. I was not bothered if people had party political affiliations, but believed that they should be honest and upfront about those links.

Here in 2008, a number of things are apparent that were not so in 2004. I am going to write about these matters from the perspective of a rank and file member of the Labor Party. That given, the situation is likely to be similar in the Liberal and National Parties. I am hoping to give some insight into the operation of party politics of 'independents' in Local Government.

The topic of upfront party politics in local government is controversial in the Labor Party. Some people believe that voters do not want to see parties in Local Government. Some people believe that party politics would bring discipline and accountability to Local Government. There are a number of arguments for and against it that result in continuation of the status quo.

The Labor Party has traditionally only endorsed Labor Party candidates in the Brisbane, Townsville and Duaringa councils. Duaringa, in a stunning demonstration that Local Government reform lynched Labor friends and foes alike, has now been annexed into the Central Highlands (Emerald) Regional Council. So currently, Labor Party members are not allowed to run as Labor candidates outside of Brisbane and Townsville.

Because candidates run as independents rather than as members of the Labor Party, they are not committed to any Labor Party policies. This leaves elected local representatives who are members of the Labor Party in a sort of limbo where they are, but are not, Labor. While they believe and support the objectives of the Labor Party, they can and do act as independents in terms of council policy.

Let's face it. Most items dealt with by a local council are not ideological. The foundations of our major political parties were not on who would place the most ideologically sound footpaths in front of your house. So while party politics gives an indication of the leanings and values of candidates, it is not as critical as in State or Federal elections.

In the end, the political affiliation of an independent candidate is only useful for giving an indication of the way the candidate sees the world. It has relatively little influence on the actions of the candidate should they be elected. For the average voter, the quality of the candidate will be more practically important than the political leanings of the candidate.

I hope the above helped to explain the politics of Local Government in our area.

# posted by Stuart Anthony Fenech : 23:07