A wise man once said you’re only a failure when you start blaming other people for your problems.
Todays target of the Lord Mayor is Parliament. It is the assertion of the Lord Mayor that if we only had enough power, people would not live in containers in Alexandria that catch fire.
She should read the EP&A act a little more closely.
The kindest thing I can say about the assertions of the Lord Mayor in her Lord Mayoral Minute today is that they have no basis in fact or Law.
The EPA from sections 118 to 121 provide Royal Commission Like powers to enter, search, demand information on oath, make inquiries, photograph, record and even take soil samples. All with Police assistance.
Sections 122 to 127 provide a myriad of powers to restrain, fine, compel, cease and desist.
We have powers in abundance. We don’t need to demand more powers from Parliament when we have the tools already. We just choose not to use them.
The reason why we choose not to use them is simple. We love low hanging fruit. It’s much easier to fine a café proprietor at 8.00am in the morning for having a dirty slicer and issuing a fine.
We have lots of calls regarding overcrowding but our dysfunctional culture of too many processes and checkboxes has stifled out any human ingenuity and common sense. All too often “the computer says ‘No’.
I cannot vote for something that will not solve a problem and will only oppress law abiding citizens, whilst the cheaters are given every incentive to cheat.
We don’t need to look to Parliament to resolve this problem, we need to look in the mirror.
Edward MandlaJuly 2014