Not so enthused about direct democracy

I believe in democracy but I'm not quite so enthused about direct democracy.

Some people might think that national foreign policy should be set by street communes, but my view is that each level of government has a sphere of responsibilities and has to exercise powers commensurate with those responsibilities.

Norm Harris's complaint that some kind of popularity contest held 17 years ago should have been the final word on municipal boundaries is absurd ("Problem exists when poll results in contrary actions", PN 527).

The question that was asked was meaningless, and the voting result was exactly what one would expect from such an open-ended query.

Suppose that the question had been, "Do you want to keep the present incompetent and unresponsive Gosford Council, or amalgamate with Wyong into a well-run Central Coast City?"

I'd suggest the result could have been quite different, as anyone who designs questionnaires knows.

Obviously, there are some things on which a plebiscite is a reasonable action, e.g., it would be quite appropriate to ask ratepayers to vote on whether funds should be spent on drainage works or on a regional library, and, then, there are arguable issues, such as how many councillors and how many wards we should have.

However, there are some matters on which a long-term, broad view has to take precedence over parochial interests, and it might be that amalgamation is one of those.

The fact that the ratepayer-elected councillors made a complete botch-up of the process says nothing about the correctness of the original decision: you get the government you deserve, and Central Coast got the council it deserved.

As for a question about the number of storeys that a building in Gosford should be allowed to reach, I cannot imagine a more idiotic proposition.

The vast majority of people would have no idea of what the question means, and I could guarantee soliciting half a dozen different answers, depending on how the question is worded.

For instance, "Would you like to live crowded into a lot of ugly little one-storey buildings, or in a beautiful high-rise with views of the lake and surrounded by landscaped grounds for recreation?" and "Do you think the centre of Gosford should look like the centre of Surry Hills?" would produce very different responses.

This is apart from the fact that most residents of Central Coast have no "standing" in the issue.

They don't live in Gosford, won't ever live in Gosford and, probably, never go to Gosford, so what is their opinion worth?

The only people who matter are the ones who will live in Gosford, so, if we are going to have a customer-satisfaction survey, let it be of the appropriate population cohort.

A classic example is the Bullion Street carpark.

There was furious opposition to the redevelopment of the site from people with no idea of what was proposed - just a negative, knee-jerk response to any kind of change that might have brought about an enormous improvement to the area.

There are times when good judgement has to overrule entrenched prejudice.

SOURCE:

Email, 14 Sep 2021

Bruce Hyland, Woy Woy