Mayors of Sydney’s coronavirus hot spots slam NSW Premier for declining meeting request

A mayor from one of Sydney’s 12 areas of concern has blasted Gladys Berejiklian after she denied she had snubbed community leaders.

One of the mayor’s in Sydney’s “local government areas of concerns” called out Gladys Berejiklian, claiming the NSW Premier had “not once” reached out to address the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.

It followed concerns from mayors across the Sydney areas with the harshest lockdown rules that Ms Berejiklian had “refusing” to meet with them to discuss the restrictions.

Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour said it was a “royal snub” and accused her of not wanting to “hear the concerns” of the coronavirus hotspot communities.

Ms Berejiklian defended herself at the Wednesday coronavirus press conference, saying she meets with community leaders “every day almost”.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says she has met with community leaders in the 12 Sydney areas of concern. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

But in a statement issued later on Wednesday, Cumberland City Council mayor Steve Christou objected.

“Despite the Premier’s comments during today’s Covid-19 press conference, not once has she reached out to me despite my repeated calls and an invitation to visit Cumberland,” he wrote.

“Since she’s placed our community under such hard lockdowns, Premier Berejiklian needs to work with us to help move our community through this and out of it.”

He claimed he invited the Premier a few weeks ago to “witness the devastation and hardships these lockdown restrictions have caused”.

“People can no longer afford to pay their mortgage, rent, bills, and put food on the table to feed their children. To date, we have been met with radio silence. It’s extremely frustrating,” Mr Christou said.

Mr Asfour said he was furious his demands to meet had not been met.

“This is really unbelievable. I am furious that she is too busy to want to meet with us,” he said.

“She can't spare an hour of her day to meet with the 12 mayors that represent over two million people and for communities that are really doing it tough in the harshest lockdowns.”

LGNSW President @ClrLindaScott and City of Canterbury Bankstown Mayor @khal_asfour joined forces this morning to ask why the NSW Premier @GladysB is refusing to meet mayors from the 12 LGAs of concern, who are working night and day to help their communities fight COVID. pic.twitter.com/Zr4t40IUGr

— Local Government NSW (@LGNSW) August 31, 2021

The leaders of the 12 local government areas under stricter lockdown rules asked the Premier for a virtual sit-down in an email that was sent via the peak body Local Government NSW on August 16.

The Premier’s officer replied on Tuesday declining the request, according to an email shared by Mr Asfour.

“I hope you appreciate that the Premier receives a significant number of diary requests and she is unable to accept them all,” a staffer wrote back.

“On this occasion, the Premier will be unable to accept your meeting request.”

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she has met with community leaders almost every day. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

Ms Berejiklian on Wednesday said: “I have not advertised how many times I’ve spoken virtually to community leaders, but I’ve done it every day almost, and I’ll continue to do that.

“I want all other community leaders to know, no matter where they are, that we will engage with them, we will continue to listen to them, continue to seek their advice.”

Labor’s local government spokesman Greg Warren, whose electorate of Campbelltown is one of the areas under extra tough lockdown rules, said Ms Berejiklian should stop “shunning” the affected communities.

“The Premier’s refusal to meet with the 12 mayors from the LGAs of concern really speaks volumes of how much this government values the people of south western and western Sydney in particular,” Mr Warren said.

“The people of southwestern and western Sydney are paying the price for the government’s failure to put in adequate measures to curb the outbreak when it first surfaced in the eastern suburbs of Sydney.

“People are dying, thousands of others have contracted the virus, small businesses are been forced to shut their doors and residents are struggling to put food on the table as a result of losing their job or experiencing a significant reduction in their working hours each week.

“What those communities of the 12 LGAs of concern need is for the Premier to first acknowledge the serious issues they are facing, and secondly to actually do something about it by way of a support package.”