LIBERAL MLC Scot MacDonald believes council amalgamations haven’t caused a fracture in the NSW coalition party room.
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The Guyra-based MLC stood firm on his pro-amalgamation stance and said the Guyra-Armidale was the right move.
Mr MacDonald comments come after a bold statement was issued by deputy premier John Barilaro, vowing to “bring an end to local government mergers in the bush”.
“From my point of view, I think that the right thing was done,” Mr MacDonald told The Leader.
“We’re in the process on of building a stronger council.
“Armidale Regional Council is starting to get runs on the board.”
The MLC said Guyra was already seeing the benefits of the merger with Armidale.
“It was done for the right reasons,” he said.
“For me, it’s not about the building or the name, it’s about how you can best serve the ratepayers.”
In his submission to the public inquiry into the Armidale-Guyra merger, Mr MacDonald said not amalgamating the councils would be “a disservice to future generations and future ratepayers”.
“We can’t ignore the evidence of weak growth and stagnant population,” he said at the time.
While the majority of presentations at the Guyra inquiry were opposed to joining with Armidale, Mr MacDonald said “it was the right move”.
“It seems to be working,” he said.
Mr MacDonald expects treasurer Gladys Berejiklian to claim the NSW Liberal party leadership and said the amalgamation issue would be “robustly discussed” in the party room.
“John Barilaro is the new deputy premier and he feels strongly about that issue,” Mr MacDonald said.
“He is a strong advocate for regional NSW.
“Lots of issues go to vigorous debate in the party room, it doesn’t matter if it’s local government or funding or any matter.”
Mr Barilaro said fixing the problem of local government amalgamations would be one of his first orders of business in NSW Government discussions and that “the agreement between the NSW Nationals and Liberals is a blank sheet of paper.”
“There are no promises of portfolios – I made no deals when taking over as Leader of the NSW Nationals and I won’t start now,” he said.
“The NSW Nationals and regional NSW won’t be taken for granted in any future negotiations.”