At today's Council meeting Clr Lindsay Brown asked the staff the question.
"The post COVID world has seen changes in work e.g. working from home. What can we do to promote the opportunity for people to move to Eurobodalla?"
The "question" was eventually revealed to be nothing but a very clumsy Dorothy Dixer put up on behalf of staff (based on a conversation with 'a' real estate agent) that blatantly segued, as we predicted, to a clambered attempt to create a non-agenda motion requesting that staff be given $10,000 to make a video and advertise Eurobodalla as a "post Covid" Destination (the clunky ill thought out attempt to subvert Code of Meeting practice was kicked out as being out of order).
The question did however provide some entertainment in what was a very short council meeting rushed through crudely by the Chair, Deputy Mayor, Rob Pollock.
Adding to 'the question' Councilor Maureen Nathan said that she had been in private discussions with a young woman who has been integrally involved around charter cities and special recovery zones internationally, making particular mention of the Employment and Development Economic Zones being considered in Honduras and Panama.
Councillor Nathan then offered an insight into what might be considered for Eurobodalla referencing the pop-up city of Prospera, Honduras, on the island of Roatan.
From what we can discover Prospera has substantial autonomy, different taxes, different courts, and a different labor law, and more.It allows for the creation of a special jurisdiction with an almost unprecedented amount of autonomy and allows for different environmental law, business registration, dispute resolution, and more.
Becoming a resident of Prospera also requires signing an “Agreement of Coexistence,” a legally binding contract between Prospera and the resident. Prospera, therefore, cannot change the terms without exposing itself to legal liability. Most governments have sovereign immunity, this goes a step beyond removing that, with a contract that clearly defines the rights and obligations on both sides.
After signing the Agreement of Coexistence, all Prospera residents are required to buy general liability insurance which will ensure themselves against both civil and criminal liability.
Councillor Nathan asked permission to hand over the information provided by staff to Councillor Brown's question so that her contact, Emily Dye, could prepare a Eurobodalla focused report to come to the next Council meeting where councillors could hear of the concept of creating an Semi Autonomous Zone that might attract new initiatives in Eurobodalla.
Councillor Nathan seemed quite enamoured with the idea of an "organic semi-autonomous jurisdiction" to attract people to the Eurobodalla and receiving the upcoming report from Ms Dye "to see if we can do something like that".
Name suggestions for such a Zone in the Eurobodalla are invited in the comments below.
