Australia’s National Local Government Newspaper LGFocus.com.au
AUGUST 2025
Ahoy! Pirate takeover Dust off the eye patch, polish the peg leg and ready the rigging - the annual Fraser Coast Mobility Scooter and Wheelchair Convoy is setting sail with a pirate twist this year. This year’s convoy will be held on Saturday 13 September, and all hearty participants are invited to dress themselves, their scooters and wheelchairs in their finest pirate gear. Fraser Coast Deputy Mayor Sara Diana Faraj said the event was a fun and inclusive way to celebrate mobility, community and creativity. “From Captain Jack Sparrow to classic Jolly Roger flags, we want to see vehicles transformed into seaworthy vessels and participants dressed in their pirate best,” she said. “The convoy is about fun and freedom, bringing together scooter and wheelchair users to raise awareness around safe mobility and celebrate the independence these vehicles provide.” Fraser Coast Regional Council Seniors Liaison Officer Juls de Waard said the Fraser Coast holds the Australian record with 176 in the convoy, so this year they are hoping to go one step further and break their own record.
All aboard the mobiity convoy.
Demerger begins The long-awaited demerger of the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council has moved to the next level with Councillors set to begin workshopping the transition plans as they become the first NSW council to de-merge. By Tania Phillips The move comes after the NSW Minister for Local Government Ron Hoenig MP announced that he would support the dissolution of the regional council and the return to separate shires for Cootamundra and Gundagai. Minister Hoenig made the announcement in Gundagai this past month saying the path was now clear for the Council to begin the detailed transition work to initiate the dissolution. “Cootamundra and Gundagai are two councils that should never have been merged,” he said. “The work by the Boundaries Commission confirms what the Council had been saying since 2016 and what I had been saying since 2012 – the former government’s ‘Fit for the Future’ policy was only a ruse to effect widespread amalgamations. “Within several years of the merger I spoke with Mayor Abb McAlister and remember being impressed with the work the Council had done calculating the cost of the merger on the new Council. The community’s opposition was not just philosophical – it was financial and practical. “It was for that reason in October 2023 that I decided I would do whatever I could within my
power under the Act, to enable this demerger. “Now, the detailed transition work needs to be led by the Council, and the councillors elected in 2024 who have the mandate to do it. They are best positioned to drive this process forward and should be the ones to shape the future of their respective communities.” Mayor Abb McAlister said the decision had come after many years of community and Council demands, to return the CGRC LGA to the former Cootamundra Shire Council and Gundagai Shire Council areas. He said the struggle to reach this point had come after three Boundaries Commission enquiries, two Members of NSW Parliament for the Cootamundra electorate, three Council terms, five Ministers for Local Government and a change in Government and was welcomed by the council, community and local members. “We have finally received the news we have been waiting for since 2016. Our communities have always insisted and persisted with the desire to govern their own patches. This is a decision for the people,” Councillor McAlister said. CGRC Interim General Manager, Mr Roger Bailey said it will be business as usual whilst the intricacies of dividing the current structure into two separate identities is carried out. “This decision now allows Council to imple-
ment the plans that have been sitting in the background for the demerger. There still is a lot of work to be done, and business will carry on as normal whilst we start on the division of assets, departments and systems. The news was also welcomed by near neighbours Snowy Valleys Council (formed by the forced merger of Tumut Shire and Tumbarumba Shire councils) who are also seeking de-amalgamation. “It’s very, very promising,” Snowy Valleys Council Mayor Julia Harm said of the announcement. The Council’s request is still being considered by the Boundaries Commission, but Cr Ham is optimistic about the outcome being a recommendation to demerge. “The commission has to put the report to the minister, and if they recommend the demerge then the minister has to say ‘right we’re going down this different path’, under the new legislation. Then there will be a constitutional referendum to decide whether or not we demerge,” Cr Ham explained. “If the result is a yes vote then my understanding is it sets up the changes for it to go ahead,” she said. Cr Ham suggested the process could begin in the next few months.
“Our [existing] plan is to have the referendum around October and the electoral commission has said they would run the referendum within eight weeks of us requesting it if the minister agrees to go ahead,” she said. Snowy Valleys Council is the only other council currently pursuing a demerger with its business case before the Local Government Boundaries Commission. On 12 May 2016, the then NSW Government announced the amalgamation of 42 councils into 19 new councils. Minister Hoenig said his Government’s policy was that it would not forcibly merge or demerge any councils. He said this needs to be a decision made by the council, in consultation with their communities. If councils want to pursue a demerger it is up to them to follow the process that was legislated last year by the current NSW Government. “Let Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council serve as a cautionary tale for future governments and academics who believe that merged councils provide better economies of scale and better services,” Minister Hoenig said. “May it stand as the folly that it was, so we can finally discard forced amalgamations for amalgamations sake into the waste bin of history.”