A claim by the minister for local government, Shelly Hancock, that she has not been formally asked by the local member, Steph Cooke, to conduct a review of the amalgamation of the Cootamundra and Gundagai councils, has been disputed by Ms Cooke.
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In answer to a question from Greg Warren, shadow local government minister, on Monday, Ms Hancock told an estimates committee in parliament she still had not received a formal request from Ms Cooke.
Yesterday, Ms Cooke issued a statement saying she had made such a request, and it had been acknowledged.
"I wrote to formally request a review of the benefits to the community of the Cootamundra and Gundagai council merger on July 23, and received a response from the Minister's office on August 2," Ms Cooke said.
"Yesterday I wrote to the Minister's office to request that the record of the statement to the budget estimates committee 19-20 hearing be amended to reflect the request of July 23. My letter has since been tabled to the committee.
"I have always been open and honest with the Cootamundra and Gundagai communities regarding this merger and will continue to do so."
ALSO MAKING NEWS:
Having a claim by a Liberal minister proven incorrect by a Nationals backbencher will no doubt give a modicum of joy to the NSW Labor parliamentary party, amidst the bad news of allegations of corruption in the ICAC hearings presently underway.
Mr Warren may have been deprived of his ability to accuse Ms Cooke of reneging on her pre-election undertakings, but is still able to claim as he did on August 5, that the "Liberals and Nationals have refused to provide any indication of if, or when, a review may actually occur".
"This forced amalgamation of Cootamundra and Gundagai councils was nothing short of a shotgun marriage," he said.
"A review is the least this government could do for the communities of Cootamundra and Gundagai."
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