LOCAL GOVERNMENT, REGIONAL MEETINGS

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (15:07): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for State/Local Government Relations a question regarding regional Local Government Association meetings.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: I refer the council to the response the minister gave in this place on 16 October this year where she said, and I quote:

I, too, believe it is completely unnecessary to be having government officers sitting around for meetings that often go for many hours if it is not relevant and not needed and does not produce any positive outcomes.

The minister's immediate predecessor in this portfolio, the Hon. Russell Wortley, found it appropriate and necessary to attend a wide range of regional local government meetings regularly, along with staff from both his ministerial office and the then office of state/local government relations. It is also worth noting that meetings of these bodies rarely consist of more than a morning session and not many hours as the minister described. I should also indicate that local representatives of natural resources management and Regional Development Australia boards, as well at the Murray Darling Association and other similar bodies regularly attend and participate in these meetings. My questions to the minister are:

1. Given that former minister Wortley and local representatives of other bodies find regional LGA meetings valuable meetings to attend, will the minister reconsider her lack of priority for agency attendance at these forums?

2. If so, will she consider the possibility of the state government's six regional managers, often co-located with RDAs, taking up these responsibilities?