Bills

Local Government (Elections) (Disclosure of Political Affiliation) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (16:51): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Local Government (Elections) Act 1999. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (16:52): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This is not a complicated bill. It is something that many people feel passionate about, and I have to say that I join those people. It will be interesting to see what the parliament thinks about the bill and whether it agrees with the intent of the bill, on behalf of a lot of communities, in bringing some transparency into the matter of council elections. People know, when they go to vote at a state election, whether a person is a member of a political party or whether they are an Independent.

The Hon. S.G. Wade: Unless they are wearing a Family First T-shirt.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: They certainly know who the candidates are. They may have had to go through the saga of people dressing up in look-alike party colours to try to solicit votes, but when they register they register as an Independent or they register as a member of a political party. That is not the case when it comes to council elections. In fact, councillors only have to declare whether they are a member of a political party when they do their declarations after they have been elected.

Once upon a time, that might have been sufficient because there was not the interference from political parties, as is often the case, when grooming potential members of their party for state or federal government or, indeed, trying to control councils for whatever reason they may have. That never used to be the case and therefore there was probably no need for this measure.

However, we have seen an increase in the number of people who are interfering in processes involving political candidates. I advise and declare that some members of Family First have run as councillors, as happens with all parties, but we have never actually interfered or encouraged them for any political reason at all. It has been their choice because they wanted to do their civic duty for their local council.

Time and time again, we have seen political interference, and one such example is Charles Sturt council, to the point where I do not believe it has been able to deliver outcomes that are in the best interest of the ratepayers they serve because the councillors are there for primary political purposes and not the primary political purpose of serving ratepayers. That is a matter of fact, it is a statement of fact; I have been aware of it happening for 20 years, but I do not know whether it has been going on for longer than that. When you look at a council like Brisbane council, we know that is a fully structured political party-based council, and people are aware of that, but they are not aware of what goes on behind the scenes.

The bill is simple: when you nominate as a candidate for a council election or for mayor, you will be required to declare whether you are a member of a political party. So, when people vote, when they receive their papers in the mail to vote, they will know that Jill Smith or John Smith are members of Family First, the Liberal Party, the Labor Party, the Greens or whatever party. They will know and therefore they are forewarned and it is completely transparent. I think it will be good for communities to have that transparency, and many people have advocated this to me in respect of local government elections. I commend the bill to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. G.A. Kandelaars.