Climate Matters: Hills Shire

  At last week’s council meeting (Feb 21) Councillor Kasby sought to put a motion of urgency to the council in connection with the current NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Impropriety between Agents of The Hills Shire Council and Property Developers in the Region . The context in which Councillor Kasby sought to put the motion included: Very serious allegations made under privilege in NSW parliament last year by Castle Hill Liberal MP Ray Williams; Equally serious matters raised in an ABC Four Corners television report last year; Attempts by the subsequent parliamentary inquiry to summon witnesses including Hills  Shire Councillor Virginia Ellis and the extensive reporting of the apparent attempts by those witnesses to evade summons. Here is the text of the motion Councillor Kasby proposed to make: Urgent Notice of Motion Moved by Clr. Dr Kasby That Council notes: 1. The NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Impropriety between Agents of The Hills Shire Council and Property Developers in the Re

  Image taken from a document published by the NSW Parliamentary inquiry (our redactions) At Tuesday’s (Feb 21) meeting of council, Councillor Virginia Ellis (North Ward) was absent without any apology being given and without leave of absence.  Documents published by the NSW Parliamentary inquiry show that private process servers employed by the inquiry were present in council chambers to serve summons on Councillor Ellis if she appeared. Councillor Ellis, along with her son Christian Ellis and brother of NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, Jean Claude, are being sought as witnesses to the NSW Parliamentary inquiry but the inquiry staff and the private process servers they have employed have been unable to reach any of them. Councillor Kasby sought to put a motion of urgency to the council.  According to a report published by The Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday the motion sought to “address the missing witnesses and the potential impact that was having on the council’s reputation”.  We do

  Where there’s smoke, is there fire? Our Hills Shire Council has attracted a great deal of bad press - in the leadup to the 2021  election and through the first year of its current term. Here is a roundup of some of the bad press our council has had in that period.  (Many of the articles are paywalled, but we have transcripts available.) On pre-election Liberal factional manouevres … In the leadup to the 2021 election, the state executive of the NSW Liberal party dumped the incumbent mayor and many of the incumbent Liberal councillors from their ticket and imposed their own candidates, usurping the prerogative of local branches to select candidates … 2021-09-30 Hills Shire Times: Bid to eject Hills Shire’s Liberal mayor, councillors: Factional plan to oust Michelle Byrne 2021-10-18 Daily Telegraph: Hills Shire Mayor Michelle Byrne, councillors ousted by NSW Liberal Party 2021-11-03 Daily Telegraph: Hills Shire, Parramatta Liberal councillors ousted after party refuses bids for indepen