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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-12-03 Daily Xml
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LOCAL GOVERNMENT (ACCOUNTABILITY FRAMEWORK) AMENDMENT BILL

Final Stages

The House of Assembly agreed to the bill with the amendment indicated by the following schedule, to which amendment the House of Assembly desires the concurrence of the Legislative Council:

No. 1. Clause 27, page 14, lines 5 to 40, page 15, lines 1 to 18—Delete subclauses (2), (3) and (4)

Consideration in committee.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: I move:

That the House of Assembly's amendment be agreed to.

This amendment deletes subclauses (2), (3) and (4) of clause 27. These three subclauses are not only flawed in concept but also unworkable in practice. They invite council ratepayers to take up a petition to prevent a council from revoking the community land status of a parcel of community land. The clause goes on to describe how a petition might trigger a poll of electors, but it is obvious from the structure of these three subclauses that a poll of electors would never be held.

Under the amendment, it is the receipt of a petition itself that stops any proposal to revoke community land status. A poll of electors is not required; the petition alone thwarts any previous decision of the elected council to revoke community land status. A poll of electors is an option the council might in theory choose to pursue to restart the process. However, if a council were to receive a petition with more than the prescribed number of signatures, it would be an exercise in futility then to conduct a poll of electors to try to overturn the demands of the petitioners.

Under voluntary voting, the results of any simple majority poll will be skewed towards rejection, opponents being more motivated to vote than those who agree or who do not have an interest. There is no minimum turnout figure for the results of the poll to be valid. Any poll, therefore, would predictably endorse the position taken in the petition.

The cost of a poll varies according to the size of the council, but the LGA has estimated that, even for a small council, a poll of electors would cost at least $26,000. For a large council, a poll could cost as much as $200,000. The cost of the poll would, in most cases, outweigh any financial advantage to the community of any proposed dealing with the land.

It is difficult to imagine any circumstances in which a council would choose to hold such a poll. Therefore, these three subclauses create a dangerous and unworkable situation, whereby a mere petition could overturn the decision of an elected council, and that is why I seek the support of the committee to agree to the amendment to delete the subclauses, as received from the House of Assembly.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: On behalf of my colleague the Hon. David Ridgway, I indicate that we will be agreeing to the amendment.

Motion carried.

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