In the Busselton-Dunsborough Mail of Wednesday 29^th July 2009 a front page article appeared stating that the Member for Vasse, Troy Buswell MLA, had written to the Minister for Local Government, the Hon John Castrilli MLA, indicating the Minister should, amongst other things, investigate the conduct of the meetings of the Busselton Shire Council.

Refuting Mr Buswell's ill-informed claim, Shire President, Cr Wes Hartley stressed that "as a former Shire President, the Member for Vasse will be well aware that the Shire of Busselton has a set protocol for dealing with official correspondence, including that from its Local Member.   As the Shire is not in receipt of any such correspondence, nor is the Department of Local Government aware of any such correspondence after due enquiry, any response in the absence of a text can only be subjective."

At very short notice, eight Councillors have written to the Minister for Local Government stating that neither the Shire President, nor Councillors of the Shire of Busselton (to the best of their knowledge), nor staff including the CEO, have had any such concerns placed before them.   The letter further stated that in all audits of the Shire's business by the Department of Local Government, including the conduct of Council meetings, no adverse comment had been made nor complaint lodged, either against the Shire or the Council's presiding officer. 

Those who addressed their letter to the Minister indicated that they were not fearful of healthy democratic debate, but indicated that attacks such as those from the Member for Vasse, were ill-founded and an unwarranted intrusion into the affairs of this local government.

One of the most recent contacts from the Department of Local Government was the receipt from the Minister of the highest award for excellence in financial management.  The Shire President stated that "the Shire of Busselton is in a healthy and robust state".

ENDS

Media enquiries can be directed to the Shire's Public Relations Officer, Helena Webb on 97810446 or helena.webb@busselton.wa.gov.au