And how ironic is it that Andrew Constance, our local state government member, is delivering that bad news to Sydneysiders!

The Bega Valley is, surely, the place to be in 2017.

Bega St.Vincent de Paul would like to thank everyone who supported our Christmas appeal, especially the Bega District News and Gary Etcell who once again organised the toy drive.

The response of businesses, service clubs, community groups and individuals was amazing and very much appreciated by the families who received the gifts and hampers.

May God bless the people of Bega who have responded so generously and fulfilled the true meaning of Christmas.

Wild Oats called us to book an Eden marina berth as she limped in after dark from Bass Strait.  

Her call was three years early but it reinforced the longstanding need for a safe harbour for recreational vessels, recognised with the 2015 announcement by NSW Ministers Duncan Gay and Andrew Constance of $10 million for a wave attenuator. 

Design work and tender preparation are now happening, and we anticipate a modern Eden marina in place for any Sydney to Hobart yachts retiring to Eden from the 2019 race!  We hope it won’t be Wild Oats.

The Bega Valley Shire Residents and Ratepayers Association (BVSRRA) expects that it will take a little time for newly elected councillors to get the hang of their new roles and responsibilities, along with expectations regarding their behaviour in the discharge of their official duties.

The general conduct provisions of Council’s Code of Conduct require councillors, among other things, not to conduct themselves in carrying out their functions “in a manner that is likely to bring council or holders of civic office into disrepute”. The provision goes on to specifically require that councillors “must not act in a way that causes, comprises or involves intimidation, harassment or verbal abuse”.

A little over a month ago, Cr Robyn Bain was in the news for having offended a member of the community on a public Facebook page by telling them to “get a life”. The incident had hardly hit the airwaves when council’s general manager gravely informed the community that she had received two complaints about Cr Bain’s conduct, although it remains unclear whether the complaints have been pursued.

Then, at the last ordinary meeting of council on December 14, we had Cr Mitchell Nadin accusing Roz Ward of La Trobe University of being a Marxist and a radical. Then, as if to ensure that everyone had received his message, Cr Nadin appeared on the Letters page of Bega District News, this time elevating Ms Ward’s status to that of “a radical Marxist activist”. 

Notwithstanding what Cr Nadin or even the federal Attorney-General might like people to believe, being an activist, radical or even a Marxist is not actually an offence in this country.

While Cr Nadin may well be right to argue that the Safe Schools issue should not concern council, the fact of the matter is that a majority of councillors accepted that it did, which is surely what the democratic process is all about. 

As far as conflating the issue is concerned, the association believes that Cr Nadin is way out in front in that regard, given his strident attempt to discredit the Safe Schools Program by impugning the opinions and beliefs of Ms Ward, which have absolutely nothing to do with the merits of the program and its value to students, teachers, schools or the nation as a whole.

While Roz Ward might be a radical, a Marxist and an activist, or even a “radical Marxist activist”, that doesn’t make the Safe Schools program a radical program or a Marxist program.

While there might be some debate about whose behaviour caused the most offence, in the association’s view the thing that all councillors and officials have in common is a fundamental responsibility to the community to set an example and act in a way that promotes respect and civility.