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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-06-15 Daily Xml
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Council Rates

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (14:58): My question is to the Minister for Local Government. Has the minister written to South Australian councils with concerns or warnings about the impact of excessive increases in council rates on South Australians?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir: standing order 97. The debate has been included in the question, sir, and I would ask the member to rephrase.

The SPEAKER: Yes. I will give him an opportunity to recast the question. The member for Flinders.

Mr TELFER: Thank you, sir. My question is to the Minister for Local Government. Has the minister engaged with councils regarding council rate rises?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: Yes, the Leader of Government Business.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I hate to be a stickler for the standing orders, but saying 'rate rises' implies facts and is in breach of standing order 97.

The SPEAKER: Yes.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I will hear from the member for Morialta in relation to the point of order raised by the Leader of Government Business.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Sir, I thought your earlier ruling was spot on when we talked about the use of the word 'excessive'. The mere fact of council rate rises does not possibly cross that threshold. A rate rise—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Sir, argument or fact also relies on a body of convention in this house. There is no way that the recast question could possibly breach that convention.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! As much as I would wish to detain the house in a detailed argument over the standing orders, I think we can allow the question.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Stuart—Minister for Local Government, Minister for Regional Roads, Minister for Veterans Affairs) (14:59): I am surprised that the member for Flinders is asking a question that wants the minister to intervene or advise councils on what rates they should be charging their communities. As an ex-mayor, he would not have liked the opportunity of a minister coming into his council and saying, 'You will not raise these rates to such-and-such a rate.'

However, the member for Flinders was also the President of the Local Government Association for two years, and he knows exactly how council rates are devised and how they are calculated and consulted on. Also—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: Also, after the member for Flinders was the President of the Local Government Association he was also the past president for two years, so he would be very aware of how councils formulate their rates.

Can I reinforce that we are all concerned with the inflation rate across all of Australia, but I will say again: I have been out there communicating with the people as much as I can. Councils have their draft budgets out at the moment for consultation with their communities. Those communities have the opportunity to come into the council on the draft budget discussions and have a discussion with the council regarding that. I would hope that the member for Flinders, as the shadow minister for local government, is doing the same as I am doing and encouraging the community to go out and talk to their council and have that consultation.

The frustrating part about it is that if a minister or the government of the day then comes out and has the opportunity to tell councils what they have to do and what rates they can do, it will be going back to rate capping, which the parliament—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Badcoe! Member for Newland! The minister has the call.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for West Torrens! The minister has the call.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: Also, as I said a bit earlier, I am encouraging people. The responsibility of a council is to determine the rate. I am asking people to go out and talk to the draft budget discussions when they are going there so the councils can explain in simple terms where they are going, what they intend to do for the next 12 months and also in the long-term business plan.

I encourage all ratepayers to engage with their councils as they consult and finalise their annual business plans. I also encourage any ratepayer suffering hardship to contact their council or their councillors for the hardship policies that councils have. The previous parliament, through the previous acts, has asked for an independent assessment of councils' financial ability and long-term financial plans to be able to be identified and to be investigated by ESCOSA.

The first tranche of 15 councils has been done, and there are some councils out there that may be appearing to be unsubstantial, unsustainable if they continue going in the same direction they are going. Again, I reinforce the fact that the member for Flinders is the shadow minister. He is an ex-mayor and he knows exactly how council rates are formed—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: —how council rates are consulted—

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Newland!

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: —how council rates are expanded and, if for argument's sake there are any issues there, the community have the opportunity to talk to their elected members, to their council. I encourage people in the community to get out there and look at the draft budget plans, and I encourage everybody in this house to encourage their communities to go and talk to their draft budget plans for their relevant councils.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members to my left and right!

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