The State Government’s new voting legislation has been drafted in secrecy, violating a consultation agreement with local government, Mr Neil Hartley, the WA President of local government’s peak professional organisation, charges.

The local government sector has not been consulted at all in a move to legislate for proportional representation in local government elections, Local Government Managers Australia (LGMA) says.

The major change to local government elections were included in the Local Government Amendment Bill 2006, introduced into the Legislative Assembly yesterday (September 27).

“The State Government had violated its own formal agreements to consult with local government,” Mr Hartley said.

“The LGMA and WALGA have signed agreements with the State Government, formalising arrangements for tripartite negotiations on any matters that affect local government.

“So why this secrecy?

“The lack of consultation shows a lack of understanding of the implications of the new voting system. If this amendment is passed, local government will have to implement it – and it is a far more complicated system than the existing first-past-the-post. It would have been far better for the industry to have talked through the proposal before it got to this stage.

“Now, because of the secrecy, we are completely up in the air about what it will mean and how we would implement it.”

Issued by Local Government Managers Australia (WA)
Local government’s peak professional organisation

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