00:00This is the second consecutive local government election where Cobar Shire residents won't
00:08be voting.
00:09There are 12 spots on the council in Western New South Wales and only 12 people nominated
00:14to run.
00:15If those people have put their hands up to do the job and they're qualified to do it,
00:19I don't see that it's an issue that we don't go to poll.
00:23It's a little bit disheartening that we've lost interest in our local council voting.
00:26Cobar Shire's outgoing councillors say there's simply not enough interest.
00:31We did have sessions in the council for people to come and listen to and find out what a
00:36councillor was being a councillor meant and they weren't intended to.
00:40There's only one or two people came.
00:42We have in the community a little bit of apathy.
00:47The old Aussie, she'll be right mate, someone else will do it.
00:50There are five councils across the state where not enough people nominated to hold a vote
00:55on Saturday.
00:57Wards in nine other councils are also uncontested.
01:00While most of the state is voting, questions remain as to why the lack of candidates is
01:05almost exclusively a regional problem.
01:08A key reason given is the rising cost of living.
01:11Regional councillors tend to get paid less than their city counterparts.
01:16In the Warrambungle Shire Council, only nine out of more than 7,000 voters put up their
01:21hand.
01:23What people are realising is that local councils don't have a lot of power.
01:28A lot of the decisions that they carry out are really decisions made in Sydney or Canberra.
01:34Well it's a problem for democracy because people should have a right to vote for who
01:38they want.
01:39A modern democracy being tested.
