Ratepayers slogged for Campbelltown mayor, general manager, support staff trip to NZ

Ratepayers will be slogged for an all-expenses paid, international trip for a Sydney mayor, general manager and support staff to New Zealand, amid a cost-of-living crisis. See why.

Picture: Shae Beplate.

Ratepayers in Sydney’s southwest will be slogged for an all-expenses paid, international trip for Campbelltown mayor George Greiss, council General Manager Lindy Deitz, and a support staff member to travel to New Zealand.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal council has budgeted $900 per person in ratepayer funds for the trip to Christchurch, which is inclusive of their meals and accommodation over the two days.

Flights for the trip were understood to be booked using the council’s corporate points program using 530,000 points, which has an approximate value of $2650.

Campbelltown Mayor George Greiss.

City of Campbeltown general manager Lindy Deitz. Picture: NCA Newswire/ Adam Yip

The trip, which is planned for April, will include a tour of the $300 million dollar Christchurch Justice and Emergency Services Precinct and is the largest combined justice and emergency services facility in Australasia.

The two-day international trip has been justified as a necessary measure for the design and planning process of the South West Sydney Community and Justice Precinct.

Which a council spokesman has said that there are “limited Australian examples of placed-based collaboration involving justice, police, councils or similar agencies”.

Plans for the ambitious precinct on Queen St in Campbelltown have been in the works for a number of years now, and looks to include a local, district, and children’s court and a NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

The precinct will also consider incorporating community services such as a city library, Council administrative facilities, mental health, housing and children’s support services.

A million dollar strategic business case was conducted to determine the need for the precinct in Campbelltown in 2018, followed by a further $1.2 million for the creation of master plans for the project which was jointly-funded by all three levels of government in 2021.

But since then, no further commitments for funding have been received from either the state or federal government.

Proposed site for the South West Sydney Community and Justice Precinct. The proposed precinct would be at the current Campbelltown Court House and Campbelltown Civic Centre sites that is bound by Queen Street, Hurley Street, Short Street, Patrick Street and Broughton Street.

The necessity of this project has been echoed by experts including the NSW Law Society, who pointed out the under-resourced court facilities and growing demands of the rapidly expanding region.

“Current court facilities in the region are outdated, under-resourced, unsafe and failing to meet basic community needs,” said President of the Law Society, Juliana Warner in 2019.

“The Law Society encourages all levels of government to continue to work with key stakeholders and community groups to ensure access to justice for the residents of southwestern Sydney,” she said.

Despite the apparent needs for the precinct, questions surrounding whether or not thousands of ratepayer funds should go towards an international trip instead of using other research methods remain.