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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-15 Daily Xml
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LOCAL GOVERNMENT (NOTICE OF MEETINGS) AMENDMENT BILL

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. SANDRA KANCK (16:05) Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Local Government Act 1999. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. SANDRA KANCK (16:45): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This bill was originally introduced three months ago but it is necessary for me to reintroduce it now because the process of prorogation sees all business disappear off the Notice Paper, so we have to make a fresh start.

This is effectively a bill about the right to know. In this case, it is about the right to know when meetings of our local councils occur. Section 84(2) of the Local Government Act requires that the CEO give notice of meetings of council by placing an agenda for a meeting on public display at the principal office of the council at least three days before the date of the meeting. Because of council amalgamations over the past decade or so, some of our councils have become much larger and, in country areas in particular, there can be a number of council offices in different physical locations which are sometimes tens, and even hundreds, of kilometres away from the principal office. Within the Local Government Act there is a base minimum requirement but it is not one that encourages full, open and democratic participation in our society.

This bill amends sections 84 and 88 of the act so that a copy of the agenda of the council and committee meetings would be placed on public display at each office of the council that is open to the public during ordinary business hours. It would also require that the notice and agenda for these meetings be placed on a website. I have had a look at a number of council websites and many of them use this as a method of advising the agendas and times of their meetings, but it is not universal. I think in this day and age it ought to be a basic requirement.

I was originally alerted to introduce this bill in July because of a constituent on the Copper Coast who made the claim that information about the times and locations of meetings for the Copper Coast council were not always accurate. Another constituent who has contacted me has suggested that it is being used as a device to ensure that constituents do not know what is happening. It is a loophole that prevents them finding out what is happening if they do not happen to live in the town where the principal office of the council is located.

In summary, this is not an onerous thing for councils to have to do—to put up one, two or three extra notices in offices in their council areas, and to put them on the internet. It is not going to be time-consuming, nor will it be expensive; but, if we do have any councils that are attempting to avoid scrutiny by ratepayers, this will be one way of overcoming it.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.

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