The Malinauskas Labor Government will introduce an urgent bill to Parliament today to protect ratepayers from the prospect of costly by-elections.
Forty-five elected council members failed to lodge campaign donation returns on time, according to amendments to local government electoral laws enacted during the previous parliament.
This means ratepayers faced the prospect of footing the bill for multiple by-elections across the state, likely to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some South Australians were facing the prospect of voting for the fifth time in the space of a year, taking into account State, Federal and Local Government elections and by-elections.
The State Government will today introduce the Local Government (Casual Vacancies) Amendment Bill 2023 into Parliament. The Bill means council members will be granted 10 additional days to lodge their campaign donation returns and avoid the prospect of losing their elected position permanently.
The Local Government Association (LGA) wrote to the State Government last week to seek a resolution that avoids significant disruption to the democratic process and the business of councils.
The Bill also provides certainty for councils by ensuring that any decisions made by these members and their councils during the period of the vacancies are not invalid.
The Bill will be debated in the State Parliament with the intention to be passed in the lower house this sitting week.
Quotes
Attributable to Kyam Maher
The bill seeks to protect ratepayers from the prospects of costly by-elections, whilst still ensuring that Councillors file their returns.
Transparency in the electoral system is of utmost importance, and all requirements must still be adhered to.
This means Councillors still need to disclose the donations they received in the election period, but ratepayers will not bear the cost of them failing to do so.
Attributable Geoff Brock
It's necessary to now resolve this issue so that councils can move on with their important business of providing local services and facilities to their communities.
This Bill does not in any way excuse the 45 members who failed to lodge their returns.
It simply removes the burden that communities who elected these members would otherwise be carrying and ultimately be paying to fix.
I have already stated that we will be looking at steps to ensure this never happens again, through the review of local government elections.
