Port Stephens MP Kate Washington has slammed “back slapping, local Liberals” over an “announcement” that the state government had authorised a start to buy-back discussions with Mambo-buyer Paul Unicomb.
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The announcement was also met with some trepidation within the Mambo-Wanda Wetlands Conservation Group which said it was “business as usual”.
The comments followed a media conference that Independent Mayor of Port Stephens Ryan Palmer and Liberal councillor Jaimie Abbott called on Monday morning at which they announced that Premier Gladys Berejiklian had heeded the council’s call to co-operate on a buy-back.
Ms Washington said it “wasn’t news” that the state government was “considering a buy-back”, 18 months after the land was sold.
“This song and dance about nothing is pretty insulting to everyone who has campaigned for a buy-back,” she said.
“Let’s be clear, ‘investigating the feasibility of buying back the land’ is not good news – this should have been happening since the government admitted their mistake 18 months ago – I can’t help but think the government is treating this as a joke.”
Ms Washington said it would be an expensive mistake to fix with any settlement “likely to exceed” the $250,000 sale price, given Mr Unicomb had since lodged two consecutive development applications, complete with consultants’ reports.
“I think it’s time for them to stop this farce and fix their mess. We want action, not meaningless words dressed up as progress,” Ms Washington said.
Mambo-Wanda Wetlands Conservation Group president Irene Jones stopped short of calling it a hollow announcement.
“While it’s a bit of good news today, a better announcement might have been, ‘yes, the government has given us the money to act as a facilitator’,” she said.
“That’s what the [council] motion asked, the letter asked the Berejilkian government for assurance it would give council the money if it were to buy it back.”
Ms Jones said the announcement would see her volunteers working harder than ever.
“We can’t stop what we’re doing. With the community’s support we got rid of the first [development application],” she said.
“Our next step was to get 10,000 signatures, well we’ve actually got 12,000 to 13,000 and we will still be having that debate on parliament because the community still wants answers.
“The next stage – we have until February 15 – is to object to the latest DA, and yesterday we were out there at the [Nelson Bay] markets and got 220 signatures. That’s how passionate this community is.”
