Busselton-Sugito sister city relationship to continue despite push from councillors to scrap deal

Busselton City council will continue its sister city relationship with Japanese city Sugito in a stripped back capacity despite calls from some councillors to scrap the deal altogether. The council made the decision at its Wednesday meeting to continue the relationship in a digital format, with no regular formal delegations. Instead, officials could turn to Zoom meetings and the council will have to approve any future activities and proposals on a case-by-case basis. The relationship came perilously close to ending altogether though, with a motion by Cr Andrew Macnish. Cr Macnish said the relationship did not stack up economically. “I’m just looking for the strategic focus, the niceties sure, but really we are moving into a realm where we are going to be required to deliver a lot of money for coastal, for jetty, for airport, for sport,” he said. “I just think the optics would be good to shift from legacy cultural to future economic which is what I’m proposing via this. “The best way and the most dignified way and the timing of the ending of the formal relationship can be something that’s fine-tuned. “If the community do in fact value the continuance of all or (some) aspects of the relationship, the community groups can do so.” Part of Cr Macnish’s motion would have ended the relationship with an invitation for a final delegation from Sugito and had city officers researching the possibility of a real-time digital connection portal to the Town of Sugito. A similar idea was tried between New York and Dublin earlier this year, but quickly ran into issues due to members of the public showing obscene and offensive material through the portal. Deputy mayor Anne Ryan concurred with her colleague on the relationship’s future, comparing it to a dying marriage. “From comments tonight, volunteers have dwindled along with interest from the community,” she said. “We did also hear tonight that Sugito was originally a Rotary program and I would suggest it be returned to the auspices of Rotary. “I consider this relationship like a marriage — a marriage that has faded over the years and we are just stringing out the inevitable.” The City of Busselton-Sugito partnership started in 1996 and had seen a multitude of delegations from each city to the other. In May, the council approved an August trip for three City of Busselton officials to go to Sugito at the cost of nearly $10,000. Cr Jodie Lee said Cr Macnish’s motion was not culturally sensitive. “Given the timing that we’ve been in this relationship — for 28 years — it would be important to celebrate 30 years of this important relationship because it has been beneficial,” she said. “Japan has very conservative views in terms of respect and I don’t think that this would be considered particularly respectful given how close we are to such an important milestone of 30 years. “I think it’s premature to end this particular MOU without exploring other opportunities with this or any other cultural or economic relationships in terms of a sister city.” Cr Macnish’s motion garnered support of three other councillors, Ryan, Val Kaigg and Richard Beecroft but was outweighed by five of the council, including Mayor Phill Cronin, voting against. In the end, the officer’s recommendation to continue the sister city deal online passed seven votes to two with only Crs Macnish and Ryan voting against.