WA Government bullies coastal communities

WA Premier, Alan CarpenterIn an effort to silence residents with difficult questions, Western Australia's Cockburn Council routinely limits question time and threatens residents who defy these limits with AU$1,000 fines. The Mayor, Stephen Lee, is now on extended leave after the Crime Commission had found him guilty of misconduct for having accepted an undeclared election campaign donation of AU$43,000 from the Singapore-controlled developer Australand, which wanted to build the controversial Port Coogee Marina.

See also: Postscript: Cockburn Councillors threaten to use ratepayer funds to sue residents, Appendix: Cockburn Community advertisement of 18 Nov 08

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The Western Australian State Government has threatened to withhold funding for the restoration of jetties at both Bunbury and Busselton unless approval for waterfront developments opposed by the respective communities of Bunbury and Busselton is given.

For more information: contact Paul Llewellyn on 08 9848 1555 or 0428 317 182

Stop bullying Bunbury on waterfront: Paul Llewellyn, Greens WA

Greens media release 10 July 08

Paul Llewellyn

"The Government and its LandCorp developers are bullying the Bunbury community on the controversial waterfront development by holding them to ransom over jetty restoration", says Greens Member for the South West Region Paul Llewellyn.

"The State Government is saying it will only restore the jetty if the Bunbury Waterfront proposal goes ahead. Why should the public be pressured into selling off their precious coastal foreshore land for private development, in order to get the Jetty maintained?

"We are hearing this same tune being sung about the Busselton jetty, where LandCorp is locked in conflict with that community over their jetty restoration.

"LandCorp and the SW Development Commission put up a one-size-fits-all development proposal and proceeds to bulldoze it through planning procedures. We have seen it in Busselton and now we see it Bunbury. Their approach seeks to divide the community rather than build a united vision.

"This is a tired old formula, used by Government and LandCorp to get their way all around the State. I am working with local communities to unite in their campaigns against these cynical land sell offs," Mr Llewellyn says.

For more information: contact Paul Llewellyn on 08 9848 1555 or 0428 317 182