Liberal councillor says proposed voice to council duplicates existing role 05:26

David Walton is a Northern Beaches Liberal Councillor. He's on the line for us. Councillor, thank you for your time. Thanks for having me, Chris. Can you explain what the Aboriginal Community Advisory Group would do?

So this notice of motion that the Mayor, Sue Hines, has put up has caused management to come back to us with some options. Two of those options are associated with creating an elected group of local Aboriginals for a period of time.

with a significant cost associated with it to provide advice to Council on a whole host of issues that are not clear in the report. My concern particularly is that we already consult heavily with a metropolitan local Aboriginal Land Council

which have elected board of directors. They're all very skilled, have skilled executives. They're significant landholders on the northern beaches. And we also currently pay for an Aboriginal heritage office with skilled people. So this is just another costly duplication. But what is it supposed to do? What's it supposed to achieve? What is it supposed to solve?

Exactly. So that's the question that I'll be again asking tonight. What is the problem that we're trying to solve here? Because we already consult with the peak bodies, the Metropolitan Aboriginal Land Council and other Aboriginal groups when we come across issues that may need significant or some input from Aboriginal groups and community.

What's it going to cost you, this thing? So it's a bit unknown at this stage, which is scary, but I think some of the costing is somewhere between $150,000 and $300,000, depending on the path that we go down on this. And it's creating another elected body, potentially. So duplicating the role of councillor. It is a voice, isn't it? It's effectively a voice to council.

Look, if it smells like a voice and looks like a voice, it probably is a voice to counsel. They haven't called it that. No, of course they haven't called it that. Have they proposed that these elected people would be paid for their time?

There's no proposal there, but if you read in between the lines, there's a lack of information. I would suggest that they would have to be remunerated for the amount of time that they will have to give up to undertake this duplication of roles. I just had a look. I did some back-of-the-envelope maths because a few people are asking, well, how many Aboriginal people... How big is the Aboriginal community on the northern beaches? So, according to the 2021 census...

There are 1,706 people of Aboriginal descent living on the Northern Beaches. That's out of 267,921. So 267,921. So what? 0.63 of a percent of the Northern Beaches population. That's my understanding. Your research is correct. That seems like it's overkill somehow.

And it's not necessary. It's just another layer of potentially bureaucracy. And again, so with just all of the councillors being contacted by the CEO of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Council,

via email rating their concern with this proposal and certainly indicating that they are not handing over any of their responsibilities under the relevant acts, the Aboriginal Land Council Act.

They do a good job. They exist for the purpose of doing exactly what the mayor is proposing to be done on the northern beaches, but they do it across metropolitan Sydney already. Yeah, that's right. And they're skilled and they've got skilled executives. They're resourced. Very skilled people. And they're resourced and it doesn't cost council anything. The ratepayers cost nothing because they're resourced themselves.

Yes, that's correct. And they are a significant landholder on the Northern Beaches, so we respect and consult with them and we should just continue to consult with them and in compliance with the Act that they operate under. Councillor, where to with the process now? Is it likely with the make-up of the Northern Beaches Council that this could be voted through?

It is. So we're a majority of independents and Greens that operate in a block manner, particularly voting the mayor.

So it's likely there's a good chance it will get through, but certainly receiving an email from the CEO of the Metropolitan Aboriginal Land Council may sway some councillors' opinions on this. To use their brains, use a bit of common sense. It already exists. Councillor, I appreciate you coming on. All the best with it. Thanks for your time. That's Councillor David Walton. He's a Liberal councillor on the Northern Beaches.