Coober Pedy District Council

Mr HUGHES (Giles) (15:15): I rise today to talk about the Coober Pedy council. Part way through last year, I went on the public record on the ABC and made a call for the dismissal of the Coober Pedy council. At the time, it could not be dismissed because the necessary triggers were not in place, and the Auditor-General had been asked to investigate the Coober Pedy council. As far as I am aware, the Auditor-General still has not handed down his report. If he has, it is with the minister and, at this stage, is not public.

At the time, the Ombudsman was carrying out an investigation into the Coober Pedy council in relation to the power purchase agreement between the council and EDL. The Ombudsman's report became available just recently. The Ombudsman found that there was serious maladministration. As a result, the minister wrote to the Coober Pedy council seeking their response giving cause as to why the council should not be dismissed.

The council provided a fairly detailed submission. I have to say that the Ombudsman's report was very detailed, very much a step-by-step analysis of what went on in the move to enter into the power purchase agreement between the council and EDL. There was a covering letter with the response provided by the Coober Pedy council, signed off by Colin Pitman, the acting CEO. In that letter, the council had this to say:

…to assist in addressing the councils financial sustainability request you give consideration to enacting sec 273 of the Local Government Act and urgently appoint an administrator to assist in the serious issues identified in this attached response.

Most of the response was about the energy deal, but there was also a very worthwhile summary of the broad context that the Coober Pedy council found itself in and the particular challenges that it faced. When I asked for the council's dismissal and supported the council's dismissal on radio, approximately two weeks later, I had a meeting with the council in Coober Pedy. It was a long meeting and, despite my calling for their dismissal, it was a very civil meeting. As you can imagine, there was a robust exchange of views.

I left with a significant degree of sympathy for the council and its predicament, notwithstanding the problems they got into through the power purchase agreement. In the response to the minister, the council spelled out a number of the broader issues having an impact. I have to express a little bit of disappointment. The minister did not urgently pick up on the request of the council to go into administration and then, of course, we were in an election and the minister had given the incoming council an opportunity to put in a submission.

Nothing is going to change. The structural issues that the Coober Pedy council faces are still going to be there. They are many and varied, not the least of which is the significant amount of debt that the council is in. When we were still in government in February, I wrote suggesting a solution to part of the problem faced by the Coober Pedy council, and that was to outsource a number of the essential services that they provide that no other council in this state provides. It is a small council with a small rate base in an isolated community that has had revolving door mayors, revolving door senior officers, revolving door CEOs, so they have had some real difficulties. It needs to go into administration as soon as possible.

Time expired.