🔥 8 weeks from hell for the besieged City of Onkaparinga Council in SA 🔥
🚪 Huge staff turnover.
🪑 Acting appointments across senior roles.
✈️ And a Mayor either in Rio or on leave — who has still not fronted the media.
In just 8 weeks, Onkaparinga ratepayers have witnessed a growing list of scandals and failures:
🌴 A tone-deaf overseas trip to Rio de Janeiro, sparking widespread outrage while serious issues at home went unanswered
🎄 The Mayor’s Christmas Lights Competition scrapped, followed by public embarrassment and internal dysfunction
⚔️ A very public falling-out between the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, with the Deputy cancelling the official competition and launching her own
🌏 A “besieged” council appointing an overseas CEO, including up to $20,000 in relocation costs charged to ratepayers
🏭 More than 1,700 residents opposing a proposed 24/7 plastics factory at Old Reynella, raising significant health and environmental concerns
☣️ A children’s BMX track closed after asbestos was discovered — found by a parent, not the council
🌱 Onkaparinga becoming a national laughing stock, with the now-infamous “Christmas Weed” story symbolising neglect and mismanagement
📉 Ongoing senior staff departures and acting appointments, further destabilising leadership and decision-making
❓ A Mayor absent during peak controversy, leaving staff and the community without clear leadership or accountability
🚨 This serious lack of leadership is now starting to show.
🧱 You can only paint over the cracks for so long.
Credit - Simon McMahon*
