Council Issued Fines Raise Money For Council Not The State
I have been receiving a large number of complaints about fines issued by Council Rangers. While the work of Council is the responsibility of Council and Councillors it is easy to understand why frustrated residents come to the State MP’s office to complain. Let me explain.
When a Council chooses to have Rangers, and the work of those Rangers includes issuing fines, then the Council needs to have a way to collect those fines.
Some Councils choose to follow up their own fines and receive the money directly. Other Councils choose different methods of making sure that fines are paid.
For Councils that choose to use Revenue NSW to follow up the fines, they accept that Revenue NSW will do the work and forward all money collected back to the Council. In return each Council is charged a fee for having the service provided to them.
For the person receiving the fine, where a Council has issued one, this means that they will be asked to pay to Revenue NSW the fine amount. It will also mean that a Reminder Notice (to pay a fine) will arrive on NSW Government letterhead. It is easy to understand why people would think that the fine being issued would be raising revenue for the NSW Government – but the money paid actually goes back to the Council.
When I previously looked into the matter of Council fines back in 2022, through Revenue NSW, I learned that the number of fines issued and the value of fines issued had risen by more than three times compared to 2012 in the Cessnock Council LGA. I am not sure how those 2022 figures compare to today, but I can assure readers that all money paid in Council fines most definitely goes back to the Council.
The Tomago Aluminium Deal
The NSW and Australian Federal Governments have committed $2.5B in funding to give the owners of Tomago Aluminium a certainty that the aluminium smelter has a future. On the back of that, the owners themselves are going to invest $1.2B to upgrade and renew equipment because they actually see their own long term future.
This is all great news for the Hunter.
There are about 1,000 direct employees of Tomago Aluminium. There are a further 2,000-2,500 contractors that go in and out of the Tomago Aluminium site on any given day, week or month. And there are an estimated 2,000-2,500 workers that build, manufacture, develop, transport and repair the various bits and pieces needed by Tomago Aluminium. In total this is about 5,000 – 6,000 jobs.
The NSW and Federal Government deal is spread over 10 years. On top of this, the investment by Tomago Aluminium owners, in new equipment and machinery, gives the plant a life expectancy of 30 years or more. That’s an entire generation of work, workers and families building futures.
To drill down into the hard numbers it looks a bit like this: the Governments tip in $250M each year for the next 10 years and the workers and their families and communities earn about $500M each year for the next 10 years. That’s $2.5B in; and $5B back out. Past the first 10 years, the Government puts in $0 but still the community see $500M per year going back into their families and small businesses. Which all means that over 30 years the $2.5B input will generate at least $15B back in wages (that’s if wages do not rise – and they will). And it is impossible to measure the confidence and spirit that this certainty brings.
There are people that want to knock this deal. It’s hard to know what they would have preferred to see. If the Tomago Aluminium plant had closed its doors, the impact would have been as big as the closure of BHP in Newcastle all those years ago. Imagine 5000 workers and their families suddenly without an income. If they are upset about the $2.5B being put in by Governments, then I remind them that for every dollar going in, $6 will come back out. Surely that’s a good deal?
Often a Member of Parliament and a Government will be criticised no matter which way they go on an issue. In this case, if there is criticism of saving 5,000+ jobs, then I will take that criticism knowing that 5,000+ families are sleeping better every night.