‘No dithering’: Referendum to give voters say on wards

A Dubbo councillor has launched a last ditch bid ahead of the upcoming council elections for residents to have their say on the potential scrapping of a voting system she says is divisive.

Despite opposition from Wellington councillors, residents of the Dubbo region will be given a say on how they vote at future elections

Councillor Vicki Etheridge’s proposal to hold a referendum on abolishing the ward system of voting was given the tick of approval by a majority of councillors at a meeting on Monday night.

In a surprise twist after Mayor Stephen Lawrence moved a late amendment, councillors also voted to ask residents if they want 11 councillors instead of 10.

The referendum will be held in conjunction with NSW council elections which are due to be held on December 4.

Wellington councillor and Deputy Mayor Anne Jones predicted the referendum would be successful because most Dubbo residents disliked the ward system and there were many more voters in Dubbo than her hometown.

Arguing against the holding a referendum, Cr Jones reminded her colleagues that the ward system was put in place by the state government when it forcibly amalgamated Dubbo and Wellington councils, to ensure Wellington had a voice.

“If the ward system is abolished and the number of councillors increased to 11, Wellington may be lucky if one councillor is elected,” she said.

“I understand that Dubbo residents want to be able to vote for their candidate of choice, but this will be at the expense of representation in Wellington.”

Cr Jones also reminded councillors that before the amalgamation Wellington had been promised quarterly council meetings and regular community consultative meetings, however “none exist today”.

According to another Welington representative, Cr David Grant, the voice of residents in his town had “been taken away”.

He attacked council’s decision to hold a referendum during the Covid pandemic and “at the last minute” before an election.

“We can’t have proper discussions, we haven’t reviewed how this is going to work and how this is going to work into the future,” Cr Grant said.

“Blayney is a lot smaller town than Wellington and it’s got seven councillors still, seven voices still speaking for Blayney. Narromine has nine councillors, Cabonne has 12 and these councils are smaller than our former Wellington council.”

Councillor Greg Mohr said he fully supported abolishing the ward system, but believed Wellington should have dedicated, guaranteed representation on council as well.

“There needs to be more discussion, there needs to be more time,” Cr Mohr said as he tried to get council to consult for 28 days, on the question of whether or not a referendum should be held.

“We’ve sort of blocked the public out from having say,” Cr Mohr said when speaking about the proposal to give residents a say at a referendum.

“The majority of the electorate have not had a say in what they’d like within the ward system.”

Cr Mohr’s push to consult on the question of consultation at the ballot box was back by Cr’s Jones and Grant, however other councillors voted against it and accused colleagues of “dithering”.

“We are giving the entire community the absolute 100 per cent consultation of letting them decide...so we don’t need any extra consultation or to hold this up anymore,” Cr John Ryan said.

Cr Lawrence said “the suggestion you would consult on the question for 28 days is just a way of derealing the proposal”.

“It’s just a distraction,” he said.

“As Cr Difffey said, we are going to consult. It’s called every single elector at the election having a piece of paper put in front of them to say yes or no. There is no form of consultation superior to that in our system.”

According to Cr Lawrence, Wellington voters were unlikely to be disadvantaged by the holding of a referendum or possible abolition of the ward system.

“Wellington has more than enough votes to get two or more councillors into an 11 person council,” he said.

“From my view, looking at the numbers there’s no doubt Wellington will continue to be represented, indeed it’s likely they would have two, possibly even more councillors.”

Cr Lawrence said if the number of councillors was increased from 10 to 11, it would reduce the amounts of votes candidates needed to get elected and that could lead to more Wellington councillors.

“Also it will do away with the mayoral casting vote,” he said.

“With having 10 councillors, that’s an even number so if a vote was split by five then the mayor has the casting vote and that’s something I’ve been that comfortable with.”

“In some wards in Dubbo at the last election the choice of candidates was a joke. It was quite clear in a number of the wards exactly who would be elected, you could tell that well in advance of the election.

“That meant that people who got elected, in a more competitive election, would not have got elected. What I mean by saying ‘a more competitive election’, is an election where ever voter in Dubbo had the choice of any candidate standing across the entire area. And I think our community thinks that it’s their right in a democracy.”

Cr Grant said in his view the decision to hold a referendum meant Dubbo council had now completely taken over Wellington.

“From my perspective, the takeover’s complete,” he said.

EARLIER VERSION PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 9

Dubbo and Wellington voters could soon take part in a referendum to decide on how they could vote at future elections if a proposal put forward by Councillor Vicki Etheridge gets the green light.

Cr Etheridge wants voters to have a say on the ward system, which divides Dubbo and Wellington up into five areas known as wards at election time.

Dubbo Regional Council's ward system has been a source of controversy in the local community. Picture: Dubbo Regional Council

Under the ward system, introduced after Dubbo City and Wellington Shire councils were forcibly amalgamated in 2016, two councillors must be elected from each ward which contains roughly the same amount of voters.

Wellington is its own ward, while Dubbo has four wards referred to as east, south, north and central.

Voters can only vote for candidates in their wards and Cr Etheridge believes the overwhelming majority of her constituents find the system confusing and want to choose from a bigger pool of candidates.

“I think it causes division, it doesn’t sit right with the community, they want to vote for who they want to vote for and not be hamstrung to vote for people in their wards they’re not happy with,” Cr Etherdige told The Dubbo News.

“At the last election people didn’t know where they were, we had to have a map there and ask them their address so we could tell them what ward they were in. It created huge confusion and I want to take that out of it.

“I just feel it’s time to give people a say and let’s see what they want.”

Dubbo councillor Vicki Etheridge wants to abolish the ward system. Picture: Ryan Young

At the September Dubbo Regional Council meeting, Cr Etheridge said she would ask a majority of councillors to support her push to have a referendum conducted as part of the December 4 local government elections.

When asked if she expected backlash from Wellington residents, who the ward system was created to help appease after their council was amalagamated, Cr Etheridge said she “did not think Wellington would be disadvantaged by it”.

“Certain people might feel they won’t be properly represented by Wellington people, I understand that but I don’t think it will be detrimental to Wellington.

“You don’t have to live in Wellington to be a good Wellington councillor.

“My opinion is what’s good for Dubbo is good for Wello.”

When asked why she had not pushed to hold a referendum earlier in the council’s term, Cr Etheridge said she misunderstood what was involved in the process.

“I was always of the belief it would take years and years for it to change anyway so it was put on the backburner for quite a while but now it’s time to ask the people what they want,” she said.

Dubbo mayor Stephen Lawrence said he was inclined to support Cr Etheridge’s push to give people a say on wards. Picture: Ryan Young

Mayor Stephen Lawrence said he was inclined to support Cr Etheridge’s proposal.

“I think her views will find very considerable support in Dubbo, she’ll definitely have the support of the people in this one I believe,” he said.

“My inclination at this stage is to support the holding of a referendum, but I will need firstly to consider a range of issues, especially community opinion and particular issues pertaining to the Wellington area.”

Cr Lawrence said “the option of one small Wellington ward and one large Dubbo ward” was not legally possible because the NSW Government refused to change the Local Government Act.

“The Local Government Act does not allow wards of different sizes,” he said.

“My view is that the ward system has provided a method of electing, but not a method of representing or governing.”

Council will next meet online on September 27.