Green Days Back in Shoalhaven
"It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right,
I hope you had the time of your life."
- Billie Joe Armstrong, Good Riddance, Green Day
- Last month Natalee Johnston said good riddance to her role on Shoalhaven Council, opening the door to a new elected member who might prove something unpredictable, but somehow just right.
- One thing for sure is that when Shoalhaven Greens' Debbie Killian takes her seat in the chamber next month, she intends to have the time of her life.
- Killian might unearth surprising Shoalhaven Independents allegiances if we are to believe stunning declarations from Mayor Patricia White and Cr Bob Proudfoot on the two things Greens hold most dear: protecting nature and empowering community.
- Politics aside, Shoalhaven Council's Community Engagement Report published in April proves Debbie Killian actually has Shoalhaven people on her side.
by Cat Holloway
Debbie Killian ran in this year's Gilmore's Federal election and earned respect for her unflinching persistence in the face of intense anti-Green media – and for a shoestring-budget result that was almost equivalent to that of the Climate 200-funded independent.
But it is the Fisherman's Paradise resident's participation in the 2024 local council election that will see her sworn in this week as Shoalhaven's newest councillor.
Three previous Green councillors (and outgoing Green Mayor Amanda Findley) were replaced by Shoalhaven Independents Group (SIG) candidates in that election.
But Johnston's departure – the second Councillor this term to relinquish their position - opened the door to a countback. That wasn't needed because Killian was the only remaining 2024 Ward 3 candidate willing to take on the role.
"It's a bit of a surprise...it wasn't what I planned, but here I am," Killian said to Mel James on ABC Illawarra Breakfast
"Our population deserves to hear that other side... because politics is about disagreeing and debating, not about putting each other down, vilifying people and shutting each other up.
Killian said protecting environment while addressing urgent housing needs was the most important responsibility of Council.
"It doesn't mean that because we need houses, we knock down native forest, bush and coastal areas.
"When we do that – and we have a number of developments in the Shoalhaven that look that way – we don't build houses for locals, we build holiday homes for people from Sydney, and this is not what we need.
"We need quality houses for locals and I'm strongly supportive of urban infill rather than going out to greenfield sites and destroying what's either really good farming land or bush."
Brought to you byABC IllawarraPresented byMelinda James
Debbie Killian interviewed by ABC's Mel James on Tue Sept 16 @1:53:30)
Eye on Shoalhaven's Steve Prothero provided a supportive assessment of the appointment where Killian made this statement:
“I’m very aware that being a lone Greens voice on Council won’t be easy, particularly given the relentless campaign mounted against the previous Greens-led Council," Killian said.
"I have considerable experience in Councils from a senior staff perspective and have seen a variety of behaviour.
I absolutely commit to working with all the other councillors, regardless of their political leanings, and to show respect to them, Council staff, and community members.”
Killian said she gave the decision to join Shoalhaven Council careful thought because of Natalee Johnston's serious criticism of the elected body.
"The reasons given by Councillor Johnston for her resignation - essentially that she has ‘fundamental concerns about the culture of the elected Council’ - really gave me pause."
"Councillor Johnston always seemed well informed... a calm and intelligent participant in Council, making positive and respectful contributions.
"Yet she felt unable to make a positive impact."
Steve Prothero
So, does the ever-changing makeup of Shoalhaven Council accurately reflect the priorities of the people?
In Shoalhaven Council's Community Engagement Report published in April this year, ratepayers ranked their priorities.
Of the top five out of 21 options, Environment & Biodiversity was at no. 3 and Green Spaces at no. 4, close behind Roads and Health Services, but well ahead of Affordable Housing that came in fifth.
From the key survey question: "What do you love about the Shoalhaven?" the survey revealed that out of the 14 most common responses, the top four were Beaches, Environment, Bushland and Natural Beauty.
Wildlife, Rivers and Not Overdeveloped were also among the common answers.
That ought to be comforting to Cr. Killian, but Mayor Patricia White and Cr Bob Proudfoot have also made strident public statements about protecting environment and empowering community.
Over the past year, White and Proudfoot, the most dominant SIG figures in Council, have consistently voted to:
- streamline the process for clearing and subdividing endangered species habitat (e.g. Callala's Glider Forest and Wowly Creek)
- put private enterprise before public service (e.g. axing Family Day Care and selling public parkland).
With a new Greens councillor in the house, it's worth revisiting important declarations from these "independent" leaders, White and Proudfoot, as they are entirely contrary to their pro-development and anti-environment voting habit.
When Patricia White was still a councillor in 2021, she protested against sand mining exploration and promised in her Mayoral campaign video:
"I will always continue to look after the environment in the Shoalhaven"
"I will help the residents and community fight them to the end to make sure that we keep our pristine area, no matter where it is in the Shoalhaven, and make sure that we have it for our future kids."
Jump to 2025 and Mayor White apparently remains an environmentalist.
Despite coming to power vowing to return the old 45-degree rule that allows people to cut down trees pretty much whenever they want, the Mayor marked National Threatened Species Day this month with a special message focused on educating her constituents about the importance of mature tree hollows providing safe places for wildlife to take shelter and breed.
"Keep an eye on Council’s socials for interesting facts, like it can take hundreds of years for a hollow to form," White wrote.
Mayor White (with Cr Selena Clancy) recently attended the Coastal Councils Conference in QLD's subtropical Gold Coast and presumably brought home useful scientific understanding about planning for climate change resilience.
This is significant because, as recently as the last term of council, some SIG councillors denied the very notion of climate change.
Still now, Mayor White loyalist, Denise Kemp angrily labels "fearmongering" about climate change as nothing more than "eco-terrorism" that she considers criminal.
But Mayor White has a comrade in Cr Proudfoot, who is known by locals from his many years in local government as "A Bob-each-way Proudfoot".
During a campaign interview with Col Hesse on TripleU FM, Proudfoot made no secret of his sustainable growth values in discussing the need for more housing.
"I don't want to knock down trees and forest, that doesn't make any sense to me," Cr Proudfoot said.
"We can identify already cleared land in suitable areas without massive drainage problems.
"We must have development, but we must have a measured increase, it has to be suitable and that's in the hands of the community.
"In Callala we're talking about pretty heavy environmental issues that need to be addressed... we should always be driven by the local community... we need to listen to everybody."
The challenge for Debbie Killian will be to hold the Mayor and her majority SIG team to their words, but especially to the word of the community being consulted.
It will be interesting to see what councillors have to say about the latest staff restructure that has eliminated the Environmental Services section and re-assigned the biodiversity assessment team to sit directly below City Development.
Unless SIG councillors push aside their archaic political agenda, keep their developer campaign donors at an ethical arm's length and show genuine independence gained from a year's experience to vote using current facts and professional advice, the 8-5 voting bloc will endure, making a mockery of having a Shoalhaven council at all.
