Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Local Government spokesperson
After three months, the Minister for Local Government has finally taken his Board of Inquiry's advice on fixing Huon Valley Council's toxic culture.
Minister Gutwein's decision to dismiss all the Huon Valley councillors, appoint a commissioner for at least 12 months, and then call elections at some point afterwards is a welcome relief.
It took the withdrawal of three councillors and an online petition organised by Huon Valley residents to force the Minister to get his head out of the sand.
We're pleased he's finally going to listen to his Board of Inquiry and address the dysfunction, but it shouldn't have taken three months. It's Huon Valley residents who have been left in limbo and who are suffering from Peter Gutwein's poor process.
If Minister Gutwein had taken this action three months ago, he could've short-circuited the dysfunctional management and governance of the Huon Valley council.
The delay achieved nothing but continued turmoil, and is likely to cost ratepayers dearly.
We hope finally implementing the Board of Inquiry's recommendations will provide the people of the Huon with the prospect of a local government that acts in the community's best interests, instead of the interests of individual councillors.
The Huon Valley community will be watching to make sure Minister Gutwein appoints an independent commissioner, who will carry out the Board of Inquiry's full list of recommendations.