Perth Voice Interactive

BAYSWATER ratepayers will get a note with their rates kindly informing them a big chunk of their rate hike this year is because of the state government’s failed council amalgamation process.

Baysy councillors were split 6-5 over whether to include the note which tells people “the city spent over $1 million, in good faith, in preparation of the boundary changes (equivalent to a 2.7 per cent increase in rates)”.

The move is reminiscent of the Barnett government’s own decision to include on power bills a line explaining how much of the bill was due to Julia Gillard’s carbon price.

Cr Mike Anderton proposed including the notice after the state government refused to refund the cash that councils had spent preparing for mergers.

Mayor Sylvan Albert and councillors Mike Sabatino, Michelle Sutherland, Stephanie Coates and John Rifici voted against the note’s inclusion.

“Regardless of which political party is in power you cannot belt the government of the day with a baseball bat,” Cr Sabatino said.

“I am there to represent my ratepayers and get the best outcome for them. The council has some very exciting plans for the future, I will not be shortsighted and jeopardise them.”

Everyone the Voice spoke to knocked back suggestions there was any political angle to the way they voted.

Cr Albert, a Liberal party candidate at the last election, pointed out “one of the six who voted for is an open an active Liberal member, and also there are non-Liberal members who voted against”.

Cr Sabatino, a former Labor man, said “I am no longer a member, so I didn’t play politics on this issue”.

Cr Coates, whose father Ross McLean was the federal Liberal MP for Perth, said she’d never been a member of any party and even so “it was not relevant to the way I voted. I had an issue with the breakdown of the costs (particularly in relation to the staffing cost component)”.

Cr Sutherland, wife of Mt Lawley Liberal MP Michael Sutherland, agreed: “I wanted to know more about the costs… we didn’t employ any more staff, and yet we had an extra $400,000 in staff costs.

“It wasn’t politics, I’ve only been on the council two years in October, and I’ve personally left politics out of it because I know everyone’s going to scrutinise me because I’m Michael’s wife.

“I got onto council more for the community side and I’ve purposely kept politics out of it.”

by DAVID BELL