Clover Moore claims half-and-half is ‘twice as effective’
March 1st, 2007Clover Moore is leading her election campaign with a slogan that attempts to gloss over the problems of holding down two fulltime jobs at once.
In fact, splitting oneself in two as State Member and Lord Mayor is a half-and-half proposition because there are only so many hours in a day. So Ms Moore’s slogan ‘twice as effective’ does not ring true. At best it means more and more of the work is done second-hand by support staff who themselves require management and time, and personal communication is replaced by an immense PR output.
But more serious than this is an inherent conflict of interest that does damage to democracy itself: If someone in your street has an ongoing problem with Council, they should be able to appeal to their local member. This is no longer possible as our Lord Mayor and State member are one and the same person.
For this reason Chris Harris, if elected, will not seek a second term as councillor when his term expires.
