Dear Readers
Since my last update I have had correspondence with Steph Cooke, Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience and also Minister for Flood Recovery.
Below are parts of that correspondence.
25-07-2022
Dear Steph Cooke
I first emailed you on 17 Jan 2019 when I lived next door to a place called Camp Kitty at Cowra, and continued that dialogue till I left Cowra and NSW. Those emails concerned the very poor way the RSPCA NSW was dealing with animal cruelty issues and my attempt to get answers from the responsible Minister for administering POCTA (The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act). At that time Nial Blair was that Minister. Since then I have attempted to get answers from his successor, Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall, and now his successor the Hon Dugald Saunders.
I have not received answers to any of my questions put to them.
All the background to my complaints about the RSPCA NSW can be seen on the change.org petition site called `Tell the RSPCA NSW That this is Cruel!’.
All my attempts at getting a response have started off with writing to the Premier’s Office, who will then forward my correspondence to the Minister for Agriculture. When I last wrote to the Premier’s Office it was in 23-3-2022, and I received a reply on 24-6-2022. That is a wait of over 3 months when the correspondence policy states I should receive a reply in 20 working days.
Below is a resume of the Government Grants the RSPCA NSW have received since I was actively involved in trying to get the RSPCA NSW to act when I lived next door to this Camp Kitty and approximately 200 cats lived in the most abhorrent conditions -
Year
2015 - $502,645
2016 - $1,168,000
2017 - $1,096,000
2018 - $1,074,000
2019 - $1,096,000
2020 - $6,478,000
2021 - $8,385,000
Please note, these are figures published in the RSPCA NSW Financial Report.
So, in 6 years the Government Grant has gone up from $502,645 to $8,385,000, which is an increase of over 1,600% An eye watering figure, and one that I think any responsible Minister would be concerned about, if he had any interest in accountability for taxpayer funds. It seems like the last 3 Ministers for Agriculture have had no interest at all for accountability for Taxpayers.
On Wednesday 3 Nov 2021 the ABC News site published an article by Sarah Gerathy.
The headline to this article was – `Dominic Perrottet orders review of how grants are awarded in NSW amid new claim of pork barrelling’. As Mr Perrottet stated `I think it is very important there is public confidence in relation to the expenditure of taxpayer funds’.
Steph, I hope you agree, and that you are able to ask Mr Perrottet if he can get his Minister to answer the questions asked of him, and also that you confirm he (The Premier) knows about this matter. After all, Mr Perrottet was the Treasurer when some of the grants (as above) were made.
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I then received an email saying that Steph would email the Minister. Readers, please note that this email would not be to the Premier, but to the Minister for Agriculture!
Hence my reply as below-.
Thank you for your reply. There seems to be a bit of confusion. I have not asked Steph to contact the Minister, as I have already done that and not received any answers to the questions asked. I simply have asked that Steph tells the Premier of my attempts to get answers from the Minister, to no avail! That is then his decision if he approaches the Minister.
I am most concerned that the Premier knows of this matter. I remember when the previous Premier of NSW resigned, when she was being investigated by ICAC. She often said that `she did not know.' That was most regrettable, so please do not allow the present Premier to be kept in the dark over any matters such as the one I have outlined to Steph.
We are hearing a lot now about accountability, scrutiny and transparency. I ask Steph to inform the Premier of what has occurred. Over $8 million dollars of taxpayer money is involved.
Regards Keith.
I now await a reply from Steph Cooke.
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The photo shows the picture of s dead cat being eaten by other cats. This so shocked me when I saw what was happening at Camp Kitty that I made a vow to do all I could to get justice for this poor animal and for all the others that had suffered. It has been a long journey to this point, so if I do not get any response now from Steph I will be a little disappointed. In her website she states the folllowing -
`Steph Cooke & THE COOTAMUNDRA ELECTORATE Protects and preserves, but also builds and grows our assets and people. Steph is committed to fighting for our community and is not afraid to rock the boat if it means ensuring our region gets the services we deserve.’