Member for Davidson, Jonathan O’Dea has declared that Labor puppet, Kristina Keneally, is going to find it difficult as the new Premier. As former Planning Minister, her mishandling of the issue regarding access of lobbyists to senior departmental officials and the perception of a ‘decisions for donations’ culture, undermined her credibility. So too has her closeness to developers and mentor Joe Tripodi. Now she has been further caught out on Ku-ring-gai planning matters as she moves into the role of Premier.
“Ms Keneally appears to listen but not care enough to act. I drove her on a tour of the Ku-ring-gai area, as Planning Minister, where she saw the dreadful affects that over development is having in the local area.
“She knows the damage that the current planning regime is causing, and yet she has clearly not been prepared to address it before escaping her Planning portfolio.
“For over a year I pressured for an ‘independent’ audit of numbers of new dwellings in the Ku-ring-gai Council area. On finally agreeing, her Department issued a brief instructing the author to speak to local developers and the property industry, but not community groups or local MPs who had previously expressed serious criticisms over the calculation of new dwelling numbers.
The failure of the Tread stone review to consult with the local community, or even refer to its concerns, demonstrates contempt from Ms Keneally and her Labor Government. Worse, the findings of the Report attempts to cover up what is clearly an excessive number of planned new dwellings, well above the agreed 10,000 target for Ku-ring-gai. It is unlikely that new Planning Minister Kelly will divert from now Premier Keneally’s lead.
Ms Keneally supported ex-Premier Rees in November when he was given the power to hire and fire his Ministers. She said there would not be any retribution for his actions, and that “the Premier has made a decision and it is his prerogative”.
“She also recently assured Mr Rees of her support, before wielding the hatchet. How can Ms Keneally be trusted? We can nearly write off Keneally’s regime already,” concluded Mr O’Dea.
