Brett vs. Brett: Underlying friction within council pokes out its head after a tense discussion
A ropeable Cairns councillor has retracted his general business motion over cashless payments at council facilities after a tense discussion lifted the lid on some underlying friction.
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A Cairns councillor has slammed council for being “discriminatory” over its preference for cashless transactions before retracting his statement and being forced to clarify.
Division 9 councillor Brett Olds moved a general business motion at council’s planning and environment committee meeting on February 8 which called for the council to include cash transactions at certain council facilities.
Council’s library services transitioned to cashless in December 2019 with other services, such as transfer stations, making the move in July 2022.
The meeting took a turn after chair Terry James suggested his motion be withdrawn for further consideration at one of council’s workshops.
“It is absolutely ridiculous … we talk about inclusivity all the time, does no one see this as discriminatory at all?” Cr Olds said.
“We’ve got buskers, beggars and the elderly, who are the main ones who probably want to use cash. But they’re ‘Just the minority, we just serve the majority’. I don’t see how the majority would be hurt by us going back to the way we’ve done business since Moses was a child.
“This is only a new policy that … wasn’t voted on; so no, I don’t want to have a workshop Terry … we’ve been there and done it.
“I don’t think us being a discriminatory council is a good idea.”
Division 1 councillor Brett Moller refuted Cr Olds’ comments.
“We’d like to get a bit more data out of what you’ve raised, rather than having this out of the blue.
“We’re all concerned about the vulnerable — but we need to act in the interests of the majority in terms of … what we should be delivering in a financially responsible manner.”
Cr Olds eventually retracted his comments about the council being discriminatory and clarified he was talking about the policy, but then went on to bemoan preceding council procedure.
“I asked … at two different workshops to get more information on this … (that) got flattened,” he said.
“I think it’s absolutely disgusting what we’re doing right now … I think this is a discriminatory policy.”
Other councillors tried to strike middle ground.
Division 8 councillor Rhonda Coghlan said she wasn’t supportive of the motion but called for compassion.
“I can see why we have changed … I think for business as usually (cashless) is the right decision,” Cr Coghlan said.
“But I have had someone give me a call and say at one of the libraries they wanted to use the internet … and they weren’t able to do that.
“I think some of our staff need to be empowered to make a decision to be compassionate or to take the cash in that instance.
“We can’t just turn people away.”
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Originally published as Brett vs. Brett: Underlying friction within council pokes out its head after a tense discussion
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