City council blindsided by Rau’s new ministry
John Rau’s appointment to the newly created role of Minister for the City of Adelaide came as a surprise to the City of Adelaide – much to the annoyance of the Lord Mayor.
Lord Mayor Martin Haese aired details of a telephone conversation between himself and Deputy Premier John Rau at the first Adelaide City Council meeting of the year last night.
Haese said he phoned Rau yesterday to congratulate him on his newly created role, but also to express frustration that the council was not informed that its patch would be the subject of a new ministry, before the public announcement.
Haese told the meeting that he told Rau it “would have been appropriate” for the Government to have forewarned him, and the council, that the announcement – which was nonetheless “generally welcomed” – was coming.
He said that the council goes to “great lengths” to keep the Government abreast of its activities.
Haese told InDaily this morning that”I enjoy a particularly good working relationship with the Deputy Premier,” but that “to learn (of the new ministry) through a media release – I would like our relationship to be stronger than that”.
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“We have been working very hard in 2015 to make (a) very strong relationship with (the) Government …”
“We would always look to see this reciprocated.”
Rau told InDaily this afternoon that he had “enjoyed a good working relationship with the Lord Mayor and look forward to that continuing in the future”.
“The appointment to the position of Minister for the City of Adelaide represents a sharpening of my existing focus on the Government’s vibrant city agenda,” said Rau.
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“The transfer of the balance of the Housing and Urban Development portfolio to Minister Mullighan will give me the time to focus specifically on the city.”
Haese wrote on social media yesterday that he welcomed the reinstatement of a Minister for the City of Adelaide.
“I look forward to working even closer with the Deputy Premier in this capacity to further enhance the City’s reputation as South Australia’s premier hub for culture, entertainment, residential growth, business investment and retail trade,” he wrote on Facebook.
However, veteran city councillor Anne Moran told InDaily this morning she believed the City of Adelaide ministry was “meaningless bullshit”.
The position, revived yesterday, was last held by former Lord Mayor Jane Lomax Smith between 2002 and 2010.
Moran said the position was ultimately “undemocratic” with “no powers” and that it was “rude” that the council was not warned of its return.
She said she believed the appointment was a new element of the State Government’s reaction against the council’s controversial food trucks policies.
The State Government released a discussion paper last year suggesting it could take power to regulate the industry away from councils.
