MAYOR Geoff Kettle has revealed he was seriously thinking of standing as an independent at the next state election.
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Far from being a veiled threat, it was borne out of frustration at the way state MPs Pru Goward and Katrina Hodgkinson had been treating the seat, he told the Post this week.
“I did what I did simply because I was very upset at the way both the Liberal and National Party claimed ownership of the seat of Goulburn,” Cr Kettle said.
“In my opinion, nobody owns the electorate other than the voters.”
Last month, he called on then Premier Barry O’Farrell to sort out the impasse between the parties, “or else.” At the time he did not rule out running as an independent.
This week the mayor confirmed that several people had approached him to do so.
“I was strongly considering it,” he said “The approaches were from people generally disaffected with the government’s performance and who believed that this area would benefit from becoming a marginal seat and (gaining) more resources.”
Cr Kettle said he had since changed his mind but denied there was any pressure brought to bear on him. If it had been, “the result might have been quite different.”
“At this point, my focus is on continuing as the independent mayor of Goulburn Mulwaree,” he said.
“I’m enjoying what I’m doing and working for the city…The local government area is not going too badly with the level of development and mooted development and I think the stability of the council is testament to what’s happening.”
However he didn’t rule out a tilt at state politics sometime in the future, depending on politicians’ performance and his personal circumstances.
But he’s not letting Ms Goward off scot-free.
Cr Kettle said the Goulburn MP “had a certain amount of reconnecting to do” with the Seat following her statements of ownership about the electorate.
“Representing an electorate is a privilege, not a right,” he said.
The mayor confirmed that he had received feedback from people saying they were upset with Ms Goward over those statements.
Cr Kettle, who is also president of the Liberals Goulburn Electorate Council, said he would work very hard to support the MP’s re-election in 2015 but knowing full well that she had to reconnect with the community.
The mayor has welcomed Mike Baird’s appointment as Premier, describing him as the right choice and a “good and timely change.”
He said Mr O’Farrell had no choice but to resign and called for reforms to gift giving along the same lines of local government.
Last month Cr Kettle criticised the former Premier for his ‘inaction’ on several fronts, including local government and planning reforms. This week he did not resile from those criticisms.
But he believed all this could change with Mr Baird’s appointment.
Ms Goward secured the planning portfolio in yesterday’s Cabinet reshuffle. Cr Kettle said the MP was well informed of the planning issues in this area but the government had some ground to make up on wind farms in particular.
He described her as one of the government’s strongest performing ministers with solid reforms achieved in the Community Services portfolio.
“We’re at a crossroads in Goulburn Mulwaree and stability is important,” Cr Kettle said.
“(That means) stability within Council and at all three levels of government.”