Meeting closed to the community

Community Cabinet Central CoastThe NSW Cabinet in their meeting at Mingara, after the community morning tea.

[Forum] As a long-term resident of the Central Coast, I was interested in attending the NSW Government’s so called Community Cabinet meeting at Mingara on September 30.

I have attended at least three such meetings in recent years. Arriving at Mingara, I was astounded when I was refused entry to what I was advised was an invitation only event. Just two years ago, a similar meeting was promoted as “a positive and productive forum to discuss regional matters with community members given the opportunity to raise their concerns and issues directly with the then new Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, and her ministerial team. ”

Clearly the tenor of governance has changed dramatically in the last two years, with a Cabinet function clearly being organised and paid for by the Liberal Government which chooses to exclude the public and invite only its chosen attendees.

Regrettably, this refusal of public access to government is consistent with the way we’ve seen funding for local projects being overtly politicised and weaponised against those with differing priorities.

As the sole local member of the Berejiklian Government, maybe it’s Adam Crouch’s way of avoiding accountability for failing to deliver the $400M Central Coast share of the proceeds of Snowy Hydro which he and then Parliamentary Secretary, Scot MacDonald, promised.

Email, Sep 30 Kevin Armstrong, Forresters Beach