By Chris Thomson | posted on May 25, 2018
ALBANY Mayor Dennis Wellington has loudly rebuked a ratepayer in an attempt to establish authority over an environmental and Aboriginal heritage consultation that is fast spiraling out of control.
At a City council meeting on Tuesday, four ratepayers asked questions about controversial plans to gazette Lake Mullocullup, east of Albany, for water skiing.
Bob Van Den Berg of Warrenup said “in despair” he had left a May 9 committee meeting that discussed the lake.
“Every [councillor at the meeting] was looking at each other wondering what they would do next,” he told the City’s elected officials.
“You seem obsessed with your decision of following through with your gazettal of the lake.”
He said it was “okay” for councillors to acknowledge they had made a mistake and correct it, if they were not given the right information – as acknowledged by Cr Ray Hammond during an earlier debate on the lake (‘The sacred and profane’, December 1, 2017).
Mr Van Den Berg returned to his seat in the public gallery.
Moments later, Mr Wellington asserted that arguments enlisted by the four ratepayers had been “fallacious in terms of the facts”.
Mr Van Den Berg rose slowly to contest the Mayor’s critique, but Mr Wellington exclaimed: “No, sit down!”
“You’ve had your opportunity,” he said, loudly, of Mr Van Den Berg’s allotted four-minute question time.
“Sit down!”
“Sit down!”
Mr Van Den Berg did sit down, saying: “I think that’s a bit harsh.”
Earlier, Noongar woman Carol Pettersen had asked why a recommendation – that an anthropologist’s report and recommendations on the Aboriginal heritage significance of the lake be noted – was amended to delete reference to the recommendations.
Later, Cr Sandie Smith moved that the recommendation, as amended, be approved, explaining she’d pushed for mention of the anthropologist’s recommendations to be deleted.
Cr Paul Terry instead proposed that the original recommendation be reinstated.
Cr Terry – who at a council meeting on November 28 unsuccessfully pushed for the lake’s gazettal to be suspended – began to explain why he preferred the original.
But Mr Wellington interjected.
“Hang on, someone’s got to second that emotion [sic], your amendment,” he cautioned.
Cr Anthony Moir seconded Cr Terry’s motion, which was defeated eight votes to three.
Mrs Pettersen, a former Albany councillor, immediately left the chambers.
The 76-year-old later told The Weekender she felt “very offended and humiliated”, that Mr Wellington had dismissed the four ratepayers’ arguments.
The motion, minus mention of the anthropologist’s recommendations, was carried 9 votes to 2, with Crs Terry and Moir voting against.
With that, the remaining three ratepayers left the council chambers.
Outside, Mr Van Den Berg said Mr Wellington did not have to use the term “fallacious”.
“He should have just said nothing,” he expanded.
The anthropologist’s report pointed to deficiencies in the city’s handling of consultation with Noongar people over the lake (‘City clears muddy waters’, May 10, 2018).
Among the report’s eight recommendations is that the City actively acknowledge “that all waterways and especially freshwater sources have cultural significance to Noongar people”.
