Some good news for those that don’t like the controversial ward system currently in place across the Dubbo Regional Council area.
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The Local Government Association have announced they will lobby the state government in the hopes the system can be removed. It’s been a controversial issue from the day it was introduced. While we like the ward system because it means the smaller communities are guaranteed a voice on a council and not swallowed up by towns bigger than they, we dislike it because it’s really confusing.
People living in south Dubbo were voting in the central ward, people living in one ward were able to stand for election in another, it was hard to get your head around where you were voting and who you were voting for.
So, it’s been a system that’s been flawed from the start. Now, there is another chance to lobby for a change – before the topic of referendum (and the cost of a referendum) comes to thought.
But, there are two sides of the argument.
The mayor believes returning Dubbo to one ward would be easier for voters. The deputy believes that due to the minimum number of votes required to get elected to council, Wellington candidates may not gain enough votes compared to Dubbo candidates to get a seat on council.
Wellington needs a voice on the council, be it two of the 10 councillors are elected from the Wellington area, and the remaining eight from Dubbo.
Two wards would make sense. A Wellington ward and a Dubbo ward. But one does not – not for the people of Wellington anyway.
The ward system was a loser in the last election. Candidates and voters simply didn’t like it. It caused confusion and frustration for too many. It limited people’s voting choice to those candidates standing in their ward.
The system was imposed on Dubbo, where residents were used to voting for their favoured candidates on a cross-city basis.
Wellington voters were all in one ward, so for them voting was much the same … except it was for a vastly different council.
The ward system was effectively put in place by the NSW Government. The people of the Dubbo Regional Council area weren’t asked first. And we should have been.
We hope now, with the Local Government Association going into bat the system becomes a lot easier.