Series 02: Alan Gibson Stewart papers, 1987-1989 - Page 291
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I might obtain from the government.
Our initital contacts were brief and formal gretings: No confidences were exchanged; no undertakings given; no assistance offered.
I soon received more explicit communications from the Town Clerk, informing me of the Mayor's wishes.
Representations sent to various ministers were outstanding, and Her Worship requested that I make enquiries forthwith. When would a favourable response be received?
Thorburn's strategy was to try and take credit for any benefit which came to Manly. Hence she made direct representations to the State Government, writing personally to the Premier. As a matter of course, the reply would come back to me, so that I could make an appropriate comment, and perhaps issue a press release. But Thorburn would still claim that it was she who pressured the Government, she wo proposed the initiatives. I was regarded as a convenient letterbox.
In fact, many of the things that were now put into the pipeline, like the construction of new ferries, were obvious needs which were long overdue.
According to the Mayor, local government was closest to the people: Manly Council represented the people of Manly, and understood their needs. The State Government sat across the water in Macquarie Street, and that was where my seat was. The Council would tell