Gareth Ward has guaranteed the Kiama community that their council will not be at risk of merger as long as he remains Kiama MP.
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Last Thursday, the state government announced that Kiama and Shoalhaven councils will continue to stand alone.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra and Kiama MP Mr Ward said the result was a “great community victory, and one that the whole community can be proud of”.
Although Kiama and Shoalhaven were spared, Wollongong and Shellharbour councils appear set for amalgamation, pending legal action.
Illawarra Labor MPs blasted Mr Ward, saying he has “failed” over the council mergers and should resign.
Mr Ward was vocally opposed to the Kiama-Shoalhaven merger, and also spoke out against that which was proposed for Wollongong and Shellharbour.
Mr Ward on Thursday sent out a media release trumpeting the “important victory” of Kiama and Shoalhaven councils in standing alone. There was no comment in the release about the Wollongong-Shellharbour merger.
Shadow minister for the Illawarra Ryan Park criticised Mr Ward for not stepping up to stop the Wollongong-Shellharbour merger.
“It’s quite clear that the Member for Kiama has just worried about his own electorate,” Mr Park said.
Mr Park said the decision on Kiama smacked of “political motives” to protect Liberal members.
Mr Ward refuted such claims.
“When you looked at the quality of the submissions, the articulate statements at the public hearing and the feedback that was being received was very powerful.
“I know that some people have said it is political, but I think that is a gross insult to all of us that worked very hard, responded to the government’s criteria and we’ve got the result that we deserved.”
He also had a message for the Kiama municipality.
“As long as I’m the local member, this will not be a council subject to a future merger proposal,” Mr Ward said.
“I’ve made it clear that’s not something the government will be considering… It’s also incumbent upon councillors to make sure they manage the budget, the finances of this council in an appropriate manner.
“The ‘Fit For The Future’ process was about encouraging councils to be more sustainable.
“Councillors have an obligation to be conscious as to how they spend other people’s money.
“And it’s now incumbent upon this and future councils to be mindful of the financial position of the council, and to make sure that its ratepayers not just see its dollars spent wisely, but they’re spent in accordance with the resources and revenues of the council.”
Mr Ward and Kiama Mayor Brian Petschler addressed Tuesday night’s Kiama council meeting.
Cr Petschler described the merger proposal as an “enormous distraction”.
“Despite what the media is saying, I don’t believe the decision was based on politics, although we received strong support from our local member,” he said.
“The results were based on what was a bad proposal, unwavering and almost universal community support that we received, and what I think was a very strong council submission.”
He also thanked the Kiama community.
“I’ve been associated with local government since 1962, and I’ve never seen a community come together so strongly as they did in this case.”
At the meeting, council resolved to authorise a suitable function for the Keep Kiama Council Local committee and the volunteers to thank them for their support.
