‘Gerrymandering’ is a very fun word with a not-so-hot meaning. Squeezing and stretching council limits can have a serious impact on said council’s voting demographic. In turn, political parties can skew results in their favour with a bit of cunning and know-how.
Naturally, pollies who might cop the repercussions of similar changes – like those presented in a proposal to merge the Sydney councils Randwick, Waverley, and Woollahra into one biiig council – aren’t going to keep quiet about it. Labor MP for Maroubra Michael Daley reckons the changes proposed by the Baird Government might be politically motivated to skew things in the Lib’s favour.
They might have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for one pesky detail – the most important detail of all, really: the proposal says the merger would be an A+ idea, due the councils involved all supporting Sydney Roosters.
Randwick’s response, as interpreted by South Sydney Rabbitoh’s uber-supporter / part-owner Russell Crowe:
We’ve turned Randwick Town Hall red and green to celebrate the mighty @SSFCRABBITOHS #GoRabbitohs @dailytelegraph pic.twitter.com/WLeVrG0GrI
— Noel D’Souza (@RandwickMayor) October 3, 2014
MP Daley also doubled-down on the affiliation, calling the assumption Maroubra is Roosters’ land “an outrageous slur.” LOL.
For the record, SMH also report that 75% of residents in the Randwick council area are die-hard Rabbitohs fans. Technically, Randwick still enjoys a strong Roosters fan contingent too, and their official stance on the merger is supportive – but don’t you go saying they’re all about the blue, white and red when they ain’t.
The lesson to be learnt by the government here is this: you can fiddle with borders, muddle the make-up of your electorate, but may God help your soul if you dare to fuck with Australia’s football identity.
Still, Residents in the affected areas have until late February to have their say on the merger – if this muck-up hasn’t already turned South Sydney fans off the deal altogether.
Photo: Brett Hemmings / Getty.
