House of Assembly Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Local Government Elections Local Government Elections Mr TELFER House of Assembly Flinders Local Government Elections Mr TELFER (Flinders) (14:47): My question is to the Minister for Local Government. Has the minister received a briefing from the Electoral Commission on any irregularity or perverse outcome during the local government election processes? With your leave, sir— The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS House of Assembly West Torrens Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Minister for Energy and Mining The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order, which I am bound to hear under 134. The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS House of Assembly West Torrens Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Minister for Energy and Mining The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Argument, sir. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Ninety-seven, very well. I will give the member for Flinders the opportunity to recast the question. Mr TELFER House of Assembly Flinders Mr TELFER: My question is to the Minister for Local Government. Has the minister received a briefing from the Electoral Commissioner on any irregularity during the local government election process, and with your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain. Leave granted. Mr TELFER House of Assembly Flinders Mr TELFER: On 7 December 2023, the Electoral Commissioner issued a statement admitting a mistake which affected 25 of the local government elections, including changing the outcome in the Adelaide Plains Council election. The Hon. G.G. BROCK House of Assembly Stuart Minister for Local Government Minister for Regional Roads Minister for Veterans Affairs The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Stuart—Minister for Local Government, Minister for Regional Roads, Minister for Veterans Affairs) (14:48): I thank the honourable member for his question. As we all understand, the Electoral Commission is very independent, away from this parliament here, and it is and independent authority. The issue that he is talking about at the moment is before the Court of Disputed Returns and I am not going to make any comments on that at this particular point. It's going through a process at this stage. The member for Flinders is the shadow minister for local government and also a previous president of the Local Government Association, and also a past president. We have to make certain it goes through that. Certainly, I am waiting for the Court of Disputed Returns to actually come back through the process. As soon as I have some information on that, I am happy to liaise with the member for Flinders, as the shadow minister for local government, to ensure that we get on top of this. Again, it is before the Court of Disputed Returns, and at this stage I am not prepared to make any comments publicly at this particular point.