LAUNCESTON, CITIZEN'S ASSEMBLIES & INCUMBENCY

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE MEETING'S RECORDING

NB Click on the image above the word 'city' and the time dot will appear and it can be advanced to the time indicated saving the need to listen to what preceded.

On the face of it this agenda item – 25.8.2022 ... 13.2 Notice of Motion - Renaming of Batman Bridge - Councillor T G Walker FILE NO: SF5547 – is about renaming a bridge in respect to acknowledging the inappropriateness of its current name. However Cr. Walker's motion sought Council's approval for a 'Citizen's Assembly' as a method to engage 'the community' on this, and by extension other issues.

As they say in vernacular, this is when the 'brown stuff' hits the fan and the verbage flew all over the place for this item. Management trotted out 'the fiscal factor' based on that other element that goes 'we've done the numbers' that typically requires trust rather than 'evidence'. (Scroll to end of this for direct quotes)

The promulgation of misconstrued, slanted and misunderstood information based mostly upon assumption was palpable. When Al Gore bumped against this phenomenon in regard to 'inconvenient truths' he reminded us of the false assumption that we are not connected to the earth and how that has led into ecological crisis. 

Equally, false assumptions that we are not connected to each other that has led into multiple social crises at every level of governance. So, we really do need to be more than wary of self-serving bureaucratic clap trap sprinkled liberally with 'pixie dust'. 

'Citizen's Assemblies' cum 'Citizen's Jury' is quite simply a group of everyday people chosen by democratic lottery convened to consider a given topic and provide a response or recommendation to the governing body.

However rusted on status quoists do seem to be threatened by the voice such assemblies give to the otherwise 'voiceless'. Even though by design, they have no legislative power they are vehicles for accountability and their processes are transparent.

So, it is not surprising that rusted on status quoists might find such 'assemblies' threatening if they are tasked to interrogate the possibility of change – especially fundamental change. It also appears to be the case that 'incumbency in governance' finds the notion of fundamental change and citizen's assemblies somewhat threatening given the lengths incumbents are likely to go to rain on their parade.

LINK

IN THE EXAMINER ... Renaming bridge not erasing history, but a 'step in the right direction' Alison Foletta By Alison Foletta August 27 2022 - 4:00am

Aboriginal Land Council or Tasmania general manager Rebecca Digney welcomed the motion to explore changing the name of the bridge. File picture.

The Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania has come out in support of City of Launceston councillor Tim Walker's motion to take action to rename Batman Bridge. .

............................. Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania general manager and woman Rebecca Digney said having an iconic Tasmanian landmark named after a person who was reported to have deliberately murdered two Aboriginal people for walking to slow was a "horrible". .............................. She said a name change would be welcomed and a "step forward in the right direction and it's a really positive step in terms of truth-telling". .............................. Ms Digney said for local councils to take on actions like this was an act of reconciliation. She said Cr Walker had reached out to the Aboriginal community. .............................. "He certainly hasn't gone off and done this without any consultation or without lengthy discussions with people within the Aboriginal community," Ms Digney said.  In regard to "erasing history", she said history was not something found only in names of monuments. .............................. "History isn't contained in statues or the names of bridges, the history still exists regardless," Ms Digney said. .............................. She praised Cr Walker for his work with the Tasmanian Aboriginal community and his "bold and brave" stance and for local government leading the way "in terms of truth-telling in this state." .............................. After his amended motion passed without his vote, Cr Walker said he was "disappointed". .............................. "We're only just at the beginning of this discussion. There's different opinions, that's exactly why I was suggesting a citizen's jury or assembly to forward this process," he said. .............................. "We're a moderate community, and they [council] want to take moderate steps forward." .............................. He said a citizen's was a chance to inform and educate given the controversy around renaming a Tasmanian landmark. .............................. "My concern is that we're back in a situation when nothing much will happen," he said. .............................. Cr Walker said this was an opportunity for councillors to take a step towards a democratic process. .............................. "Change is hard. If change was easy, it would have happened by now," he said. .............................. In regards to what the name of the bridge should be Ms Digney said it was a difficult question and should be done with a variety of consultation beyond the Aboriginal community. .............................. "In the Aboriginal community, the way that we tend to do things in a cultural way is we tend to consult and we do things on the basis of consensus," she said. .............................. "Any name would be more appropriate than calling the bridge after somebody who quite cold heartedly and maliciously murdered Aboriginal people."

OFFICER COMMENTS: (Michael Stretton (Chief Executive Officer) .... This matter was previously considered by Council on 8 April 2021 (Notice of Motion - Renaming of Batman Bridge - Councillor T G Walker). The Council has approved its 2022/2023 Annual Plan and Budget and in doing so has committed to delivering and resourcing an identified range or projects and initiatives. In recommending the Annual Plan and Budget to Council each year, the Executive Leadership Team analyses the resources which are required to deliver the program, which includes both people and monetary requirements. Accordingly, there is no scope within the current program to take on this additional community engagement project, without the cancellation or deferral of an approved project. This has not been considered in the motion. The community engagement process, which is nominated in the Notice of Motion, is labor intensive and would be costly to implement as it would involve significant work to complete the necessary research and then to establish, form and support the panel. This community engagement approach would require over-time work by the Council's staff (and possible consultants) as citizen assemblies or juries generally occur outside of business hours to facilitate broad participation and take a lengthy period of time to conclude their work. It is estimated that the citizens assembly or jury component of the project would cost around $40,000 to $50,000 to implement and this cost does not include allowance for Officer time to support that process which would be in the order of 400 hours. This proposal is currently unbudgeted and unresourced. City of Launceston Council Meeting Agenda Thursday 25 August 2022 Page 65 Accordingly, it is recommended that this motion not be approved by Council as the organisation does not have the available capacity to deliver the project at this time. The Council is nearing completion of an Aboriginal Partnership Plan which will provide a focused and agreed approach to culturally respectful and genuine engagement by the Council with the Aboriginal community on matters such as this. An alternative and preferred approach is for this Plan to be adopted by Council and then this matter can be considered and, if it is deemed so under the Plan, the re-naming of the Batman Bridge project can be considered for inclusion in the 2023/2024 Annual Plan and Budget.