Kiama is flossing the symptoms while the infection spreads
Kiama Council has spent years patching over problems that sit far deeper than any one budget line, policy decision or change of leadership. The most important question right now is whether anyone is willing to look beneath the surface and address the actual root cause of the mess.
That point is captured perfectly in a line from Sydney barrister and Liberal Party officeholder Jane Buncle, writing in today’s Sydney Morning Herald:
“This time…. it is a struggle over what the party stands for. And a new leader won’t fix a party that has forgotten what it stands for. The problem is the horse, not the jockey.”
Kiama knows that feeling.
When the council’s dire financial position finally came into view, the response was not to examine systems, culture or long term risks. Instead, the former mayor and the CEO called a meeting with several former mayors and former CEOs. Not to seek advice. Not to draw on their experience. Those who were there have told me the purpose was to tell them they were all fools. The exact word may not have been used, but the message was the same.
The Mayor at the time and the CEO wanted the world to know – This crisis was not theirs. It was decades of other people’s mistakes. Decades of mismanagement. Decades of problems created by everyone except the people now in charge.
The message was clear and it was repeated over and over again in the press until our current councillors said “enough”
It was much easier to point backwards than to own the present. Easier to ridicule those who had left than answer for decisions being made now. Easier to perform strength than practise accountability.
And for anyone thinking this is overstated, it is not. The former mayor has publicly confirmed the attitude behind it. Only this week he said that serving on Council requires “a strength of character you simply do not possess”, as if the real problem is ordinary residents daring to ask questions instead of the decisions that landed us in this position.
From a leadership perspective, this is the classic mistake. Best practice tells us you cannot solve structural problems with blame, defensiveness or personality politics. Root-cause leadership begins with the opposite: curiosity, humility and a willingness to sit with the evidence rather than distort it.
Modern governance frameworks call this systems thinking. High performing organisations use it every day. Instead of polishing the enamel to hide the decay, they ask:
• What created this problem
• What conditions allowed it to continue
• What blind spots did we protect
• What decisions were made for short term comfort rather than long term stability
When leaders default to blame, the culture becomes fearful. When leaders choose clarity and accountability, the culture becomes stronger. It is not complicated, but it is confronting.
And as for calling a roomful of former leaders fools, one could only observe that it is certainly a way to begin a working relationship with people who might have been able to help you. Not wise, not strategic, but a choice.
Kiama will not recover through reshuffling faces or repeating old speeches. It will recover the moment it commits to understanding the actual problem and fixing it at the root.
Rider
Everything in this piece draws on what is already on the public record and on conversations I have had with trusted voices directly involved. These accounts are consistent, clear, and supported by public statements made over several years.
#Kiama #LocalGovernment #Accountability #Leadership #CommunityVoice #CouncilCulture #RootCause #Transparency
The 13 September Kiama by-election is a milestone in more ways than one. For the first time, every candidate is a woman: Kate Dezarnaulds (Independent), Tonia Gray (Greens), Katelin McInerney (Labor), and Serena Copley (Liberal). Between them, they bring decades of professional, community, and political experience, and, I hope, a willingness to run campaigns focused on what they will do for the community, rather than tearing each other down.