One has to wonder whether New South Wales has a special award for political hypocrisy. If it does, Com.It.Es NSW would already have the trophy on display. The very people who spent years vocally advocating for the closure of the Com.It.Es office are now parading a new “Information Desk” – both on WhatsApp and in person – as if they were delivering a groundbreaking service to the community.
The irony is hard to ignore. Six years ago, a fully equipped office opened in Five Dock, complete with tables, computers, internet access, and space for associations and community groups. At the time, critics argued it was unnecessary, costly, even burdensome. Today, those same figures celebrate a two-hour-a-month stand at Haberfield Library as if it were a landmark achievement for the Italian community.
Naturally, any initiative that brings citizens closer to consular information is welcome. Yet the contradiction is stark: a stable, well-structured office was allowed to die, only for its scaled-down replacement to be hailed as a triumph. The WhatsApp “help desk” – which merely directs users to procedures already available online – feels little more than a patchwork solution. The result is a somewhat grotesque spectacle: the office dismantled, downsizing lauded, and the return presented in a reduced form as an “innovative” service. In reality, it is a diminished déjà-vu.
The community deserves clarity and consistency, not political theatrics or selective memory. Those who once demanded closure and now claim to champion community services owe it to the public to acknowledge their own inconsistency.
