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Amadale City Council Elections

I stood as a candidate for the Lake Ward in the Armadale City Council Election for in the 2007 local government election. My policy statement for the election, is at Bret's 2007 local government policy statement .

(This paragraph is added on 15 September 2009.) Most of the material on that web page, including the photographs of me, is still relevant for the 2009 Local Government Elections. You should be able to still recognise me on sight, from those photographs. Especially still relevant, is the issue that I am the only candidate who lives in the electorate, and, who has lived in the electorate for the past 16 years, as at the time of the current election. And, I do not take winning the election, for granted. That is the decision of the voters - you, if you are eligible to vote, not the decision of a candidate. Ask yourself - who knows better the conditions in the Lake Ward - a person who does not live in the ward, or, a person who has lived in the ward for the past 16 years, and, who drives, and, walks, in the ward, and, knows what it is like in the ward, both during the day, and at night, and, on an ongoing basis, is aware of the neglect of the ward by the city council, which uses motor vehicles hitting trees that overgrow the roads, to prune the trees.
And, I do not say "When I am elected..."; I say "If I am elected, I will try to get the changes that I believe are needed, made", but, NOT "When I am elected...". Whoever wins an election, is a decision of voters, and should never be taken for granted, as voters should never be taken for granted, by any candidate.
My election flyer for the 2009 city council election, is at Bret's 2009 Armadale city council election flyer.

To see a little bit of what I have tried to do in Armadale, to protect the parks and reserves, and Armadale's heritage, go to Armadale City Council web page for General meetings Of Electors , and look at the Minutes of the Special meetings Of Electors of July 2005 and July 2004. .

Whatever you do, whether you vote for me, or, vote against me, you should vote in the election, if you are eligible. Not enough people have cared, in the past, to vote, meaning that "elected" councillors have had no mandate, as less than half of eligible voters have showed that they care enough about what happens with their rates, or, how safe or dangerous, Armadale is made by the City Council, to vote in the City Council elections. Remember, eligible voters are directly responsible for the outcome of the election. No excuses.

Are you happy with the way that the members of the Armadale City Council have been dealing with "development" in Armadale? Do you remember the attempt to sell off the parks and reserves for housing development? Have a look at my web page at Armadale City Council's attempt to rezone and sell off parks and reserves .

As you may or may not be aware, from time to time, the local newspapers publish Letters To the Editors, from me. To see the full text of the letters that I have sent, go to the web page at Letters To Editors .

This paragraph is written 02 November 2007. The results of the local government elections are out. The people of Armadale overwhelmingly made the statement that the people simply do not care about Armadale, with 70% not bothering to vote. See the Letter To The Editor that I submitted, dated 26 October 2007. Remember, if you are eligible to vote, and, you did not cast a valid vote, you are responsible for whatever decisions are made by the council in the future. It is your responsibility.

I stood as a candidate for the Lake Ward in the Armadale City Council Election for in the 2005 local government election. My policy statement for the election, is at Bret's 2005 local government policy statement .

This part is written 21 October 2009. The results of the local government elections are out. The people of the Lake Ward in Armadale, overwhelmingly made the statement that the people simply do not care about Armadale, with 72% not bothering to vote. The ward had 5372 listed eligible voters. Of those voters, only 1507 valid votes were cast. Of those 1507 votes cast, only 500 voted for me; less than 10% of eligible voters. My election platform was to try to make Armadale a safer, healthier place to be. It appears that the people of the ward, overall, do not want that. Instead, they appear to want the council to continue in its current direction, of bulldozing Armadale, eliminating parks and reserves, and destroying the environment, so that the council can make increasingly more money from selling of the parks and reserves for development. That is why, amongst other things, the horse-riding clubs, including pony clubs. are prevented by the council, from achieving their potential, and, why the Kelmscott Pony Club is to lose its use of Pries Park, which the pony club has used its own resources, to improve, for use for the benefit of children in the district. And, that is why the council intends to bulldoze the wetlands at Anstey Road, for housing development.

After all, if the people simply do not care what the council does or does not do, the council is free to do whatever it wants.

But, I did stand against a sitting councillor, and, the campaigns of candidates standing against sitting councillors, were severely undermined, as was the Armadale City Council election overall, by the local newspaper group that published the defamatory editorial, that basically said that people should not vote in the local government election, and, if they really must vote, then they should only vote for sitting councillors, as all of the other candidates are crooks.

From that editorial,
"It is disappointing then with looming council elections that the process has been somewhat overshadowed by the antics of some candidates."
and
"Candidates who have engaged in less-than-desirable behaviour, whether they are successful or not in the election, should by ashamed by the negative publicity their actions have drawn.
It does nothing to encourage voters to make an effort to fill out their voting slip and show support for their hard-working elected representatives."

So, the "newspaper" has published that people should only vote for sitting councillors, who are all "hard-working", and, the only candidates that deserve the votes, as all other candidates are crooks.

And, the effects of the editorial, include that the number of votes received by the Electoral Commission, the day after that editorial was published, suddenly dropped, in Armadale, to less than a third of the number of votes received the day before, and then, the number of votes received each day, "petered out". So, the editorial published in the local "newspaper", accomplished one of its objectives, immediately; people, for the most part, were clearly put off voting, by the article that defamed all of the candidates that were not sitting councillors.

And, a request made in writing, to the editor of the newspaper, for clarification of the published defamation, and, whether I was one of the candidates that was accused of misconduct, was ignored by the editor of the newspaper; no acknowledgement, no response, clearly indicating that I was one of the candidates that was subject of the defamation by the editor of the "newspaper".

And the response from the Electoral Commissioner?

"The Returning Officer and Electoral Commission cannot comment on the content or accuracy (or otherwise) of media reports. How "Comment News" chooses to portray or report its stories is a matter over which we have no control."

So, it is quite clear that defamation of candidates in elections, and, subverting elections, in Western Australia, is approved by the WA Electoral Commission.

And thus, the local government elections in Western Australia, at least for the Armadale City Council, are as valid and as fair, as the reported nature of the presidential elections in Afghanistan; controlled by organised crime.

I publicly thank the Armadale Examiner, for its efforts to encourage people to vote in the Armadale City Council elections, and for its efforts to impartially portray all of the candidates and for what they stood.

This web page is authorised and printed by Bret Busby, 2 Pelham Street, Armadale.

I can be contacted by email by clicking on the link at Bret

For issues relating to this web site, send an email to the webmaster by clicking on the link at webmaster

This web page was last updated on 21 October 2009.

This web site was last updated on 21 October 2009.