What’s the scam with the WA government ousting the mayor of Nedlands City Council Fiona Argyle, twice popularly elected?
The scam became even more evident this week when Local Government Minister Hannah Beazley appointed three property types as commissioners in her place to run the council.
Argyle was subject to a smear campaign in the media after she vigorously opposed the development of Class A nature reserve.
She has been replaced by the property triumvirate of David Caddy – former chair of the Western Australian Planning Commission, Cath Hart – former CEO of Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA) and now a lobbyist, and Bianca Sandri – a town planner and director of WAPC with connections to DevelopmentWA.
Heartless! Property developers, press and politicians in cahoots to roll council
Beazley has steadfastly refused to respond to questions from these quarters but mysteriously told the ABC that the council is under “investigation” for something unspecified and despite multiple requests by Argyle to speak with Beazley, Beazley has refused.
Argyle told the ABC “she was not under investigation from the department and believed she had been targeted for political purposes”.
A statement on social media notes: “I was elected Mayor, two times by a popular vote of the community and have been rolled by the WA State Government for doing my job. Protecting Class A Reserves from property developers”.
Pity the same excitable media scrutiny – somehow linking the mayor to Epstein, Prince Andrew, Hamas, and the woke ABC – has not been applied to the coverage of the Auditor General’s Report 16: 2024-25 Fraud risks in Land Transactions by Development WA which found the state operator to be a compliance basket-case and property developer’s dream.
Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.