Water leaks

The letter below was published in the 5 October 2023 edition of Stanthorpe Today:

In your article last week “More dam questions”, there was a reference to “leaked information”.  Cr Tancred is quoted as saying that “council representatives who had attended the meeting in question had been circumspect about not releasing information as per the Minister’s instructions” and asked Cr McDonald where she got her information.

As far as the Regional Water Assessment (RWA) process is concerned, there is simply no such thing as “leaked information”.  I personally met with representatives of the Department in January, and asked them whether there was anything preventing Council from giving regular updates to the community on the RWA.  The Department advised that there was not, and that members on the RWA, including Council, are intended to be conduits to their members (i.e. other Councillors) and the community. 

There are some 15 organisations represented in the RWA.  Other groups are doing just what the Department intended and are providing information broadly to their members.  These are not “leaks”.  It’s called openness and transparency.

Disappointingly three other Councillors – Bartley, Gale and Gow – voted with Pennisi and Tancred to maintain this secrecy on 12 April 2023 when Cr Tancred provided a report devoid of any substance on the RWA meetings he had attended. When questioned in that meeting, Cr Tancred repeatedly refused to state what the 4 options under consideration were. CEO Burges ultimately did provide this detail along with the admission that “the Department has indicated that we can disseminate information.” 

The local government principles require transparency, decision-making in the public interest,  democratic representation and meaningful community engagement.  Perhaps its time that a good number of our Councillors took their obligations to uphold these principles more seriously.