City of Onkaparinga

Mr PISONI (Unley) (14:58): My question is to the Minister for Local Government. Is it the minister's view that the City of Onkaparinga's decision to pay the CEO's Kooyonga Golf Club membership was an appropriate use of ratepayers' money?

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Frome—Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Local Government) (14:59): I thank the member for the question. First up, decisions of a council are made by the elected members of the council. The question the member is asking is for a minister to determine the remuneration of each council. What I will—

Mr PISONI: Point of order: I think the minister has completely misunderstood my question. My question was whether the minister believes it is an appropriate use of ratepayers' money.

The SPEAKER: If the member for Unley gives me another point of order like that, he will be departing. Minister.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: The elected members of a council are elected by the communities themselves; they are democratically elected. They will make the decisions of each council, and if the member has been involved with the council, as the previous shadow minister has been as an ex-CEO—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: I am sorry, I apologise, I didn't realise that. He understands that the elected members make those decisions.

Ms Sanderson interjecting:

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: They make those decisions—

The SPEAKER: The member for Adelaide is warned.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: The council have that opportunity to debate that within their meetings. If elected members don't believe that it is appropriate for a CEO to have those conditions, then in actual fact it's up to the elected members to make that decision. If the residents themselves are not happy with that, they have the opportunity to go through the—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: The member for Finniss has asked for transparency. I have to honestly say that my disappointment stems from any council not making decisions as openly and transparently as possible. The issue is that there are regulations out there. I haven't made a habit of publicly discussing individual cases in regard to the Ombudsman's reports—I do not do that—but I have been in this house and, with the previous shadow minister, we have been very, very honest about that. It is up to each elected member and council to be as transparent as they can, and I would hope that the shadow minister understands that.