Bills

Local Government (Defaulting Council) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 8 September 2022.)

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (15:25): I rise to indicate that I will be the lead speaker on this bill for the opposition. I think the point needs to be made again that we are seeing a lot of legislation on the run from this government. This particular amendment bill was introduced and pushed through the other place last full sitting week, and the government is looking to push it through our chamber today before local government elections take place in November.

Thankfully, this is not a controversial piece of legislation; however, I make the point that the date for local government elections has been set for quite some time—about four years—and yet the government seems to be scrambling late in the piece to get this legislation passed. It does seem that the government is having a little bit of trouble getting their house in order, particularly in the portfolio of local government—perhaps an indictment of the minister responsible. Nonetheless, it is our job to deal with the legislation that is before us, and that we must do.

The Local Government (Defaulting Council) Amendment Bill 2022 will amend the Local Government Act 1999 to extend the period of administration in the District Council of Coober Pedy until the local government periodic elections are due to be held in 2026. The challenges that face the Coober Pedy council and community have been recognised for a long time. We are talking about a community that is incredibly isolated and, thus, arrangements have developed that are unique to their council.

Coober Pedy is a town that is located over 800 kilometres north of Adelaide in northern South Australia, a beautiful part of our state. Although the community of Coober Pedy may be small, it is incredibly diverse and resilient. The council has local government authority for Coober Pedy and its surrounding area and, in addition to the regular functions that a normal local government authority may have to undertake, the council also must provide essential services such as electricity and water retail services to the district.

The council is responsible for the sale and supply of those services, the connections of their customers to the electricity and water supply, the maintenance of those connections, and billing customers for their electricity and water use. An administrator was brought into the Coober Pedy council after a series of Ombudsman's reports concluded that the council inappropriately managed electricity and water accounts and debts in a manner that was unjust, unreasonable, wrong and contrary to law. The Ombudsman found that the council had been unable to manage its electricity and water retail services in a way that was financially viable, giving the council itself an added burden and leading to it being put into administration.

The Ombudsman's report also found that the payment of debts for essential services in Coober Pedy had been propped up by a native title fund, with many community members otherwise not in a position to contribute financially to their electricity debt. The subsidy program in place, the Remote Areas Energy Supplies scheme, was also found to be insufficient to bridge the gap between the cost of distributing electricity and water to Coober Pedy residents and the collection of revenue for these services.

In light of all of those details, it was the Ombudsman's recommendation that alternative options for electricity and water supply to Coober Pedy be considered and that the state government review whether there are options for the supply of electricity and water in Coober Pedy that would reduce the administrative and financial burden on the council. These challenges went even further, back to 2015, when the arrangements for the retailer were put in place by the then Labor government. The details around those arrangements have been discussed at length both privately and publicly and do not need to be reventilated here today.

The previous Liberal government appointed an administrator in 2019, and this bill seeks to extend that appointment. In reality, we may not have any choice. On behalf of the opposition, I would like to personally commend and thank Mr Tim Jackson for his work as the administrator since his appointment in 2019. I thank him for his attempts to continue to engage with the community throughout that time using community-wide surveys and the like. He has attempted to make sure that the community is engaged with the process even though he is a government-appointed administrator.

The challenges at Coober Pedy are well understood. The minister has received advice from the administrator about what he believes are the best arrangements that should be adopted. I hope the minister recognises his responsibility and also has the capacity to influence his Labor cabinet colleagues to ensure the necessary action is taken. Coober Pedy does need a sustainable long-term solution, and that solution should be expedited so that community members can once again have democratically elected representatives running their local council.

It is the determination of the current government that they are not proposing a return to ordinary elections this year, so we are going to see this unusual set of circumstances continue to at least 2026. We the opposition understand the complexities around this situation and support this position; however, we need to make sure that Coober Pedy has every opportunity to thrive into the future and return to community leadership. I hope that this process is done thoroughly, appropriately, sustainably and also in an expedient manner.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (15:31): I rise in support of this bill on behalf of the Greens. As has been noted by the honourable Leader of the Opposition, the city of Coober Pedy has been under administration since 2019. I understand that elected members were suspended in response to concerns regarding soaring debt and maladministration.

This bill proposes to extend the administration of the council until 2026, although I also understand that the government is keen to return to an elected council earlier if possible. I think it is fair to say that all sides of politics in this place would like to see a return to democracy as usual in the Coober Pedy council. It is not, of course, optimum to see elections being suspended in that council area, and to see any council area under the leadership of administration is not desirable.

That said, I understand the points made by the Leader of the Opposition in terms of the haste with which this bill has been introduced, but I do recognise that there was a pressing need on behalf of the government to do this before the council elections occurred, so the Greens are supportive of this. We certainly support this bill but restate our desire to see a return to elected governance in that local community as soon as possible.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:32): I would like to thank the Hon. Ms Centofanti and the Hon. Mr Simms for their contributions and also for their support for the bill. It is important that the necessary action is taken to support the council. I think it is a little disappointing that the Leader of the Opposition chose to try to score some political points, particularly given that her party held government for four years and was not able to resolve it. I do not think that should be the point of today's discussion.

This is about providing the opportunity for the steps to assist that council to continue. In regard to the Hon. Mr Simms' comments, I would like to reiterate that it is the government's preference that, if possible prior to the 2026 elections, the council would return to a normal elected member situation. Certainly, that would be our goal; however, I do note that there is support across the chamber for the bill, and I thank members for that support.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

Bill taken through committee without amendment.

Third Reading

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:36): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.