I speak yet again about the disparities that exist between western and eastern Sydney. I have spoken previously in this place about the impacts of COVID-19, health reports highlighting healthcare inequalities and the massive infrastructure divide that has left this Government playing catch-up in Western Sydney. A recent article by former Campbelltown mayor Dr George Greiss and Western Sydney University Associate Professor Awais Piracha, entitledChildren of a lesser God: the need for equitable representation in NSW local government, brings to light yet another concerning disparity, being the dilution of democratic representation in Western Sydney. The article highlights how democratic representation varies drastically depending on where we live.
For example, Hunters Hill has around 8,000 electors, compared with almost 200,000 in Blacktown. That means the power and influence of a single vote varies depending on our postcode. In Hunters Hill, a local neighbourhood issue could be the determining factor in whether a councillor gets re-elected. The dynamic forces councillors to be hyper-responsive to their constituents. They know that their political future hinges on satisfying small demographics. A poor-performing councillor in those areas might opt for the path of least resistance, pandering to vocal residents and pressuring council staff to prioritise electorally convenient solutions over sensible or fair outcomes. Staff who are aware of the potential impact on their careers may also bend to these pressures. This kind of dynamic fosters nimbyism, which leads to poor decisions that benefit a few at the expense of many. The controversial Hunters Hill waste proposal to dump radioactive material in Kemps Creek a number of years ago is an example. It was a case of pushing the problem away from the politically connected and onto the communities that have less power and voice. Thankfully, on that issue, cooler heads prevailed.
In contrast, bigger local government areas like Blacktown, Canterbury-Bankstown or Liverpool have a significantly different dynamic. The size of those council areas dilutes the impact of similar single-neighbourhood issues. An issue would have to spread across multiple suburbs and garner the attention of metro media in order for it to have a material electoral effect on a councillor come election time. The disparity is exacerbated by the decline of local newspapers, which once upon a time held local politicians accountable and kept residents well informed on local issues. For the most part in Western Sydney, those newspapers are now either non-existent or behind a paywall and often poorly resourced.
Sydney is now the second most expensive city in the world, with a median house price that is unaffordable for the majority of first home buyers. Our efforts to create more affordable transport oriented developments, or TODs, in places like Leppington town centre and Ed.Square are great steps and act as great examples of what urban planning can achieve. But they are located over 40 kilometres from the CBD, showing how far we have pushed growth to the city's fringes due to eastern Sydney's resistance to development. It is clear that the way local government representation is structured plays a direct role in those outcomes. Areas with smaller, more influential electorates are able to block developments that could provide much-needed housing, while areas in the west, where electorates are larger, are more politically diluted and have a tradition of taking new housing, end up bearing the brunt of Sydney's growth pressures.
The Minns Government's approach to housing seeks to arrest that imbalance. However, pushback from councils and candidates at the recent local government elections highlight a need for local government reform to match housing reform. While the issue of reform in local government over the past decade has been dominated by the topic of amalgamation and de-amalgamation, little has been said about the structure and size of council wards. Any reform must seek to create a level playing field where every voter, every issue and every community matter equally. No community should be left behind because of where it is located on a map. That is a necessary step to restore equity, accountability and fair democratic representation in local government. The authors of the aforementioned article summarised:
This imbalance undermines the democratic principle of "one vote, one value" and diminishes the opportunity for some residents to access local governance. It also seems to impact housing production and reforms across the Sydney metropolitan area.
By addressing these disparities, we can better handle the housing crisis and ensure that Sydney is more affordable and accessible, and remains the most liveable city in Australia.
