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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-12-05 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Statement

Coober Pedy District Council

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:04): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement. Leave granted.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: On 4 December 2018, the Auditor-General tabled his report on his examination of the District Council of Coober Pedy under the Public Finance Audit Act 1987 as requested by the former treasurer on 1 May 2017. This report raises serious issues, and I will therefore give it careful consideration. The report from the Auditor-General is in addition to a report published by the Ombudsman on 30 July 2018, which also raised serious issues about the council.

Under the Local Government Act 1999, I may take action on the basis of a report of the Ombudsman, or a report of the Auditor-General, or information provided by the Independent Commissioner against Corruption. On 2 October 2018, I received a submission from the council on the Ombudsman's report. This was provided in response to a letter that I sent to council that, as a result of the Ombudsman's report, I was considering taking action under section 273 of the Local Government Act 1999 to recommend to the Governor that the council be declared defaulting and an administrator be appointed.

As local government elections were already underway, I advised the council that following the elections I would provide the council with an opportunity to make a further submission to me before I decided on the most appropriate action to take. The council should provide any further submissions to me by 13 December. Any decision to recommend that a council be declared defaulting and that an administrator be appointed is a very serious one. It is therefore critical that my decision-making process is fair and ensures that all relevant information and views are properly considered.

The Auditor-General's Report indicates other irregularities in the council's financial governance than those identified by the Ombudsman. However, if I consider that the findings of the Ombudsman’s report and the submissions from the council in relation to this report indicate serious irregularities in the conduct of the affairs of the council, then I may proceed to take action solely on the basis of the Ombudsman's report. In this circumstance, however, I expect that all matters raised by the Auditor-General in his report will be properly dealt with.

The Hon. A. Piccolo interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Light is called to order.

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The SPEAKER: If the member for Hammond continues to interject so spiritedly, I will chuck him out as well.

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