00:00Well I came to Tumut today to announce that with the release of Boundaries
00:09Commission report to enable that council now to begin the process of having a
00:13referendum to give the people the opportunity of whether to demerge or not
00:18and I'm also going to Albury tomorrow to meet with the City Council and talk to
00:27them about their issues but I got a call the other day asking whether or not I
00:33could I could really come to Greater Yume to talk to the council and talk to some
00:39of the farmers about the drought conditions and the problems that
00:43they're in and although it's not my portfolio I knew how serious the issues
00:48were for farmers in this area so I spoke to the Premier and I thought I'd come
00:55down here and just listen and bring back the information that I've gathered
00:59while I'm here.
01:01And how was your visit to the farms? What did you take away?
01:04Or how serious the issue is and the extent of the drought and the real trouble
01:10that's occurring. I mean tragically three farmers have committed suicide recently
01:16because of the financial pressure they're under. I mean there's a real problem
01:21occurring down here and I'm just going to take that message back to the Premier
01:26when I get back to Sydney.
01:27And was this an issue that you were aware of for today? Did it really bring it to life as a house?
01:33Well it's not my portfolio so it's not an issue that I would normally involve myself in unless of course it came to the Cabinet but I was coming down here anyway
01:45and I got the message really from Rick Fuhrman of the Country Mayor's Association
01:51about the Regional Grout Summit that they have and saying this area is really under
01:56stress and so I said that I'd fit in a visit here and just learn, come down and
02:04learn and listen to hear what Mayor Parker had to say and have her take me to meet
02:10some of the farmers in this area.
02:16And was there anything that was said by some of those farmers that really stuck with you?
02:20To understand what they do and how to do it and to understand how serious the issue is and
02:27what's interesting is I mean these are people that have been on the land farming cattle and
02:33sheep for one of them for nearly a hundred years. They're people that have seen drought
02:39drought after drought after drought and they've never seen or been in a position that they are now
02:45and they're not asking for handouts, they're making suggestions as to what would at least see them through.
02:53I mean some of these farmers are out of feed, they're selling off their herds. I mean that's ultimately going to impact really upon everybody in this state.
03:03When people in Sydney are not going to be able to get the meat they want or going to pay through their nose, I mean it's going to be
03:09as a result of the real tragedy that's occurring right here in this part of the Riverina.
03:15And Mayor Parker was just saying that the Premier is due to come to Wagga. Will you be encouraging him to maybe make the trip down here and continue conversations?
03:24Well I know the Premier is coming to Wagga and going to visit Tamora and I'm down here on his behalf. He's asked me to come down and listen because to be able to give him feedback and that's what I propose to do. That's why I'm here.
03:44And is there any actions that you hope come from today?
03:48Well I'm just going to pass on to him and the Government the information I've gathered from coming here and listening and passing on their suggestions and let them know how critical the issue is in this part of the state.
04:06And for your Aubrey visit tomorrow, are you able to provide any details as to what you'll be discussing with the Council there?
04:12Oh look I'm going to be talking to the Council and just letting them know the reforms I have in place about the new code of meeting practice that's about to be gazetted, the new code of conduct, a variety of reforms to the Council's financial systems.
04:29Just so that they understand what the reforms are really to make them better and to ensure they're more transparent.
04:40And obviously the big news today is Snowy Valleys. I understand for the demalgamation there's up to $5 million that can be given by Milstone. Is that something that's already in discussions for help with this?
04:52No there's provision in the Act that can facilitate those who want to demerge that they may be subject to a maximum grant of $5 million or a loan from T Corp.
05:04But I've not committed myself to any money. This is a merger that hasn't worked and this is a community that say they want to demerge.
05:14Demerging councils is a lot harder than merging them and they have to go through the exercise of doing the work.
05:23And I've told the councillors that they are the democratically elected civic leaders.
05:29They're the ones that hold the hopes and aspirations of their community in their hands.
05:34And they're the ones that have to put together the business case that needs to go to the people.
05:40And it's not a matter of just taking a consultant's report and having a referendum based on a consultant's report.
05:46They need to look at each perspective of the two councils, determine the service standards, determine the revenue that's needed,
05:54and put those questions for the people to enable them to cast their vote and decide whether they proceed to demerge or not.
06:03And a question from one of my colleagues, I understand if you can't answer it,
06:07but some of our rural councils, like Federation Council at the moment,
06:11are raising concerns about RFS assets.
06:14And what's your opinion to councils having to carry that on their back?
06:18What, the RFS?
06:19Yeah, assets and tankers.
06:20Access, you mean the Red Fleet and the ownership of the Red Fleet?
06:24Well, the councils need to understand that the reasons they own the fire assets from the RFS is because they asked to own them.
06:35So when the New South Wales government was restructuring the SES and the Rural Fire Service in 1997,
06:42they planned to ensure, just like the SES, that the government would take over ownership of what's called the Red Fleet.
06:50And it was the councils that asked to own the Red Fleet.
06:54And three years later, when the government again considered taking back the Red Fleet,
06:59the councils wanted to continue to own the Red Fleet.
07:03So they can't just complain about something they asked for.
07:08But what I have done is I have referred the question to the Public Accounts Committee,
07:16who have conducted hearings, and they've recommended that the state take over the ownership of the Red Fleet.
07:25And that's yet to be decided by government, but that's likely to happen.
07:28But, you know, the message I have for councils repeatedly is,
07:33don't come and see me and just advocate and complain.
07:37You are a third tier of government.
07:39You need to come to the government with a suggestion and a plan and how to achieve it.
07:44And I think the Red Fleet was probably an example of councils saying that they didn't want it,
07:52but didn't want to accept responsibility that their predecessors asked for it.
07:57So, you know, it was quite a major exercise to go back to the history of their ownership.
08:03And, you know, the councils, the mayors would speak to me,
08:06they wouldn't even know that the state's paying them for the maintenance of the fleet.
08:10So, they need to, when they come to government, be far more informed about what they're asking for.
08:16So, you know, I think that it would do a tie to the ascentology to the ascent Simmon,
08:22on the website of Garptomies, which is valuable.
08:26And we love, like I said, you couldn't do a CRMW as an angel Quinnian on Facebook.
08:32to remember that one last meeting.
08:34But we, once again, get into account of this place the goal
