Professor Joseph Drew flags approach to Federation Council probe

Newcastle University Professor Joseph Drew was speaking after spending Monday and Tuesday this week in the region taking feedback, after travelling from his home outside Tamworth.

"Lots of people have opinions and there's lot of ideas out there and that's great, but the thing I have to do is find out the facts," Professor Drew said.

"It's certainly a very complex situation that's built up over many years, way before amalgamation (of Corowa and Urana councils in 2016) and there's lots to be done."

Among the groups Professor Drew met was the Federation Ratepayers, an organisation that drove opposition to the large scale special rate variations sought by the council.

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That body's chairman David Bott said he was rapt to have an hour of Professor Drew's time.

"We were very pleased to be engaged or consulted," Mr Bott said.

"We think that the way he's conducted his initial research is very encouraging."

At the same time on Tuesday morning, Federation Council was meeting at Urana where it agreed to the final terms of reference for Professor Drew's study.

They covered eight points, including a comparison of the council's financial performance post merger to that of Corowa and Urana shires before amalgamation.

There is also a requirement to analyse and comment on the sustainability of the council from today and investigate options for improving the situation.

Professor Drew will too canvass whether there is a need or desire to divide the council into wards and after completing the first seven terms of reference, "investigate the need, timing and conduct of a potential special rate variation application".

The author of five books and 80 papers in relation to local government outlines his approach to the review in a video that has been uploaded to the Federation Council website.

Professor Drew tells watchers he will be working two other professors, Diogo Ferreira from Portgual and Masato Miyazaki from Japan, who are considered local government experts.

"This is an evidence-based inquiry, I only deal with evidence not in warm and fuzzies, not in opinions," he said.

Professor Drew hopes to be able to present draft findings in October and will be returning to Federation shire to present those to the community.

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