House of Assembly Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1) 54 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Local Government Elections Local Government Elections Mr TEAGUE House of Assembly Heysen Local Government Elections Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (15:06): My question is to the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government. Can the minister update the house on the local government elections? The Hon. S.K. KNOLL House of Assembly Schubert Minister for Transport Minister for Planning Local Government Elections The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (15:07): I can, member for Heysen. An honourable member House of Assembly An honourable member: How did your dad go? The Hon. S.K. KNOLL House of Assembly The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: He did alright. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. S.K. KNOLL House of Assembly The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: I think that he will be a very strong advocate for our city and won't be scared to speak his mind on any and all matters. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. S.K. KNOLL House of Assembly The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: But we must think more broadly than just that. We could look to the Kingston SE council elections also, where another father of a government minister was also elected. I look forward to Rick Wingard's continuing contribution down in the South-East. More broadly, there were 1,375 nominations in this year's local government elections. That's 41 more than in 2014 and is the highest number of nominations received since 1995, when we had 115 councils in South Australia as opposed to the 68 that we have today. We did see a marginal increase in the number of returns that were put through—32.66 per cent as opposed to 31.99 per cent, some extra people who did vote in this election. This turned out to be very much a change election in the local government space here in South Australia: 28 new mayors, with this figure likely to rise; with 15 councils needing to elect their mayor from within the council elected member base, that number is likely to rise further. Prior to the elections, we had 13 female mayors and now we have 22. Again, that could and is very likely to rise, as chairs are elected across those councils that move that way. It is a fantastic result. Local government elections are local by their very nature. There are local politics, local issues, local personalities that have driven the results in each of these elections. But it is clear to say that there was a general mood for change in our local government sector. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. S.K. KNOLL House of Assembly The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: That is one that this government supports. We put down before the election and since the election a strong reform agenda in this area to help reform our local government sector—a sector that is crying out itself for change. One of the major issues that was highlighted over the weekend— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. S.K. KNOLL House of Assembly The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —was around the disenfranchisement of businesses across South Australia. Businesses that pay rates and businesses that are major contributors to the coffers of councils found it very difficult to get involved in the democratic process. If this was an individual who had had the same issue—this disenfranchisement and this inability to engage—this would not be tolerated. But it seems that if it's a business who pays money to a council, their voice is somehow not appropriate to be heard in the same way. Even in the City of Adelaide, to see hundreds and hundreds of votes rejected says that this process is too convoluted and too complicated. This process needs to change. We need wholesale enfranchisement of businesses right across this state. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. S.K. KNOLL House of Assembly The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: That's why this government is committed to delivering a very strong reform agenda in this place, not only to enfranchise future council election processes but also to help improve transparency and accountability, to help improve the way the code of conduct operates and to improve the way that our local government sector deals with the red tape and regulatory burden that exists. Throughout this entire process, throughout this entire reform agenda that will be rolled out over the coming months, the one non-negotiable that we on this side of the house have is that, however we help the local government sector to save money, those savings need to pass through to individual ratepayers. Enough is enough with the three times rate of inflation—growth—in council rates revenue. That's why this government— Mr Malinauskas interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Leader! The Hon. S.K. KNOLL House of Assembly The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: —will continue through this reform agenda to make sure that ratepayers are protected and that, by the time we get to the 2022 election, they have a system in place that delivers what they want.