Perth Voice Interactive

VINCENT mayor John Carey says a betting man wouldn’t put money on the merger with Perth going ahead.

Premier Colin Barnett said this week he was running up the white flag on mergers after three were formally rejected by residents in referenda.

The Perth-Vincent merger was never put to residents for their view because the government was going to make it happen via legislation, with a new City of Perth Act mashing them together.

Mr Carey says since Labor and the Nationals won’t support any Act that doesn’t allow residents a vote, so there’s little chance of it going ahead: the bill would barely scrape through the lower house  (it needs just two Liberals to cross the floor to kill it) but faces certain death in the upper house where Labor, the Greens and the Nationals can outvote the Liberals.

Perth lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi, fresh off the plane from a trip to California, says she wants the Vincent merger cancelled, but her council is still keen for boundary reform to incorporate key assets such as UWA, Kings Park and Sir Charles Gairdner hospital.

The deflated premier says he still wants to go ahead with changes “where there’s consensus and goodwill”.

While some councils have set out to pursue the millions of dollars they’ve spent on the merger process, Mr Carey says “I won’t be jumping on the bandwagon”.

Vincent’s cash costs are comparatively small—about $90,000—and Mr Carey says it’s not worth chasing it as it’s likely to be a fruitless exercise. He concedes the time he and the CEO spent on the process has hindered their day to day work and attempts to improve council culture.

by DAVID BELL