COPPER COAST DISTRICT COUNCIL

The Hon. M. PARNELL (15:12): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for State/Local Government Relations a question about the District Council of the Copper Coast.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M. PARNELL: This afternoon I was pleased to speak with a number of members of the Copper Coast Community Watch group, who are in Adelaide to meet with various MPs and government officials. Members of this group have been particularly vocal in their criticism of various decisions made by the Copper Coast council as well as the council's approach to public consultation. I previously met with this group in Wallaroo at a well attended public meeting called to raise concerns about a shopping centre development at Wallaroo.

On 23 September in this place the minister made a statement about various issues concerning the Copper Coast council. In that statement, the minister stated that the mayor and chief executive had agreed to her request to have an independent legal due diligence and governance audit to ensure that the decision making processes of the council are robust and compliant with the Local Government Act and other relevant legislation—and I note from the minister's statement today that the role of audits is to be extended generally throughout local councils. However, on 23 September, the minister also reported that she had written to the chief executive offering to assist the council to deliver an intensive community consultation and engagement workshop for its elected members and senior managers. My questions to the minister are:

1. Who is conducting the independent audit of Copper Coast council, and what progress has the audit made?

2. Will the auditor also be consulting with individuals or community groups in the council area to ascertain their views on the council's compliance with its legal obligations?

3. Has the Copper Coast council accepted the minister's invitation to run a consultation and engagement workshop and, if so, when will the workshop be held?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy) (15:15): I thank the honourable member for his important questions. Indeed, there has been a number of issues involving the Copper Coast council that have elicited a great deal of public and media interest. In terms of the town centre redevelopment and the sale of land, as I have reported previously in this place, complaints and concerns have been made known to me and, as minister for state and local government affairs, I took a number of steps to look into that matter further to see whether or not a formal investigation as per the Local Government Act would be required. That process is still in place, so there is not a great deal more that I can say about that until that process has been completed.

Certainly, it has involved my officers going to visit the council, which I have reported here previously, and having dialogue with the mayor and chief executive—it might also have involved some councillors, I am not sure. Also, my office required further information to enable me to be informed as to whether or not proceeding with the formal investigation is warranted under the act.

Further information has been requested from the council, and I put on record that the Copper Coast council has been extremely cooperative and very responsive to all of our requests for additional information which, currently, it is only required to give voluntarily. As the member noted, I am proposing some changes that will require mandatory compliance with that, but at the moment it is only voluntary. The council was extremely cooperative and sent us information that has been looked at; and further information that was sought has been provided. Again, in terms of the second round of information that was requested from the council, that is now being looked at by the Crown Solicitor's office, and I am still awaiting the outcome and any recommendations that might come from that. So, that process is still in place.

In terms of the legal due diligence and government audit, I do not have the terms of reference for that audit. I am happy to provide that to the honourable member, but I just do not have that level of detail with me at the moment. Also, the scope of that audit goes to the breadth of the consultation. Again, I am happy to take that on notice and bring back a response to these matters of concern.