Today, a councillor suspended for two weeks for misconduct; the latest mayoral elections results from Victoria and election updates out of South Australia; compulsory voting leads to a huge increase in voter turnout in Tasmania.
Listen to this episode here, and find the link for your podcast player here for any of the 172 episodes so far. Scroll down for the transcript for episode 172 with story links.
The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association,the national broadcast on all things local government; and by Technology One’s 2022 Local Government Digital Transformation Index – download the new report now to find out how your council shapes up.
Transcript (with story links)
Episode 172 LG News Roundup, 16th November 2022
Hello and welcome to the Local Government News Roundup. This is your update for the 16th November. I’m Chris Eddy.
Today, a councillor suspended for two weeks for misconduct; the latest mayoral elections results from Victoria and election updates out of South Australia; compulsory voting leads to a huge increase in voter turnout in Tasmania.
And much more ahead on the Local Government News Roundup, brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the national broadcaster on all things local government; and by Technology One’s 2022 Local Government Digital Transformation Index – new report out now.
First up today –
A councillor at Darebin City Council has been suspended for two weeks, after the tabling of the outcome of a internal arbitration process at a Council meeting this week.
Allegations brought by Cr Susanne Newton against Cr Tim Laurence related to statements made by Cr Laurence on social media and by email, and reported remarks in a newspaper.
The Arbiter, Joel Silver, found Cr Laurence had engaged in misconduct in relation to six of the allegations, and dismissed a further ten allegations – four of which were withdrawn during proceedings.
The arbiter considered some of the alleged behaviour to be within the bounds of robust debate, but considered other elements to be misconduct within the meaning of legislated standards of behaviour.
Mr Silver was also critical of Cr Laurence’s justification for the behaviour, being that he had no ability to hold other councillors to account for their behaviour without engaging in misconduct himself.
The arbiter said ‘If local government were the wild west, that might be true’, but the Local Government Act provides to the contrary.
In addition to the two week suspension, Cr Laurence is required to deliver a public apology at a Council meeting within the next 3 months.
Now for the latest mayoral election results – these had all come in since our last edition on Sunday.
The Councillors at Mitchell Shire have elected Fiona Stevens as mayor, and Louise Bannister as deputy. It’s the first time in the shire’s history that women have held both roles.
Two term mayor Bill Chisholm did not seek re-election to the position.
The mayor and deputy mayor positions at Monash City Council will also be held by women for the next 12 months, with that council electing Tina Samardzija as mayor; and Nicky Luo as deputy. Both women are in their first term on Council.
And there’s yet another all-female team in place, with Knox City Council electing Marcia Timmers-Leitch as its mayor, and first term councillor Jude Dwight as deputy.
Mayor Timmers-Leitch first joined the council in a by-election in 2019.
Up on the Murray at Swan Hill, the council has its third mayor in five months, after former mayor Jade Benham stood down in July to focus on her state election campaign. Bill Moar has been Acting Mayor until this week when the council returned Les McPhee to the position. Cr McPhee has held the position five times previously, going back to 2013.
Stuart King was elected as Swan Hill deputy mayor.
At Golden Plains, a changing of the guard with first term councillor Brett Cunningham stepping into the mayoralty, and outgoing mayor Gavin Gamble taking on the deputy mayoral role.
Cr Cunningham attended the meeting virtually whilst on a leave of absence.
Another first term councillor is taking on a mayoral role – at Hepburn Shire, Brian Hood has taken on the position from outgoing mayor Tim Drylie; and Lesley Hewitt, who was mayor in 2021, will be the deputy mayor.
At Central Goldfields Council, Grace La Vella has been elected mayor, taking the reins from Chris Meddows-Taylor who held the role for the past two years.
Surf Coast Shire has a new mayor. Cr Liz Pattison has been elected to succeed outgoing mayor Libby Stapleton after two years.
Mike Bodsworth will be the deputy mayor.
Latrobe City Council was due to elect its next mayor this week, but that has been deferred to next month due the councillor leave of absence.
We are expecting a few more results this week, and a big batch next week.
You can keep up to date with results as they become available on the Local Government News Roundup website.
Now to other news:
The city of Melbourne has doubled its funding to support conferences and business events, with $200K to be shared by more than 20 business events.
They include an augmented reality festival, a sustainable tech pitch night and a showcase of new filmmaking technologies.
It’s hoped that the range of events will entice tens of thousands of people to the city, while promoting the knowledge and innovation sectors that will future-proof the city.
Ballarat City Council will part fund a new industry arts and heritage PhD program through a partnership with the Australian Catholic University.
It’s one of three to be offered as part of a broader partnership arrangement with the city, the Art Gallery of Ballarat and Sovereign Hill.
The council and the art gallery will each contribute $5,000 per year for three years towards the scholarships.
Greater Bendigo will undertake repairs to the ageing Kennington Reservoir dam wall and infrastructure next year – the first major works on the facility in nearly 100 years.
The $2M project will include replacement of the dam wall outlet pipe, and construction of a waterproof layer along the length of the wall.
Leaders from across Gippsland came together last week to discuss regional migration as a crucial aspect of economic and community development in the region.
Latrobe City Council Mayor Kellie O’Callaghan was part of the discussions with regional leaders, who heard from keynote speaker Vivienne Nguyen AM, Chairperson of the Victorian Multicultural Commission.
Coming Up: updates on some of the council election results out of South Australia; compulsory voting leads to a huge increase in voter turnout in Tasmania; and innovative local government projects in the spotlight in Queensland in Western Australia.
The term on everyone’s lips these days is ‘digital transformation’ – so, how does your council shape up?
TechnologyOne’s 2022 Local Government Digital Transformation Index measures SaaS migration in councils today. The report’s findings come from a survey of local government leaders across Australia and New Zealand in 2022. And it shows where digital transformation is sitting in the local government sector, where it is heading and identifies some of the sticking points that need to be overcome.
The report also outlines the characteristics of best-in-class councils, so you can learn from others in the sector and use their experience to transform your council into the best digitised version of itself – for you, your people and your community.
To find out what it means for your council, download your free copy of the report from the link in the show notes.
Now in today’s National Roundup:
Adelaide has a new Lord Mayor after distribution of preferences was completed on the weekend.
Former MP Dr Jane Lomax-Smith will succeed Sandy Vershoor as Lord Mayor, narrowly defeating former senator Rex Patrick.
According to the ABC, Mr Patrick says he has spoken with the electoral commission about allegations of illegal voter activity. Only 52 votes separated him from Dr Lomax-Smith in the final count.
Candidates have 72 hours to request a recount. As of this morning, the election results are showing as provisionally declared on the electoral commission website.
Another incumbent mayor to have lost their position is Richard Sage at Grant District Council. The former mayor was strongly out-polled by Kylie Boston, who achieved the quota on primary votes, and removed the often controversial mayor from office. Mr Sage was seeking a fourth term in office.
Port Lincoln Council also has a new mayor, with incumbent Brad Flaherty defeated by Diana Mislov, who is celebrating an increase in diversity on that Council.
Meanwhile, at the City of Norwood Payenham & St Peters, it will be a sixth term for returned mayor Robert Bria; and there will be five new elected members on the council.
Five outgoing members were thanked for their contributions this week, including John Minney after nearly 50 years of service to the council and community.
At the City of Salisbury, Gillian Aldridge OAM has been elected to a fifth term as Mayor, She will be joined by seven first-time councillors, and seven returning councillors, after the completion of voting this week.
Keith Parkes has been re-elected as the mayor of Alexandrina Council, with a margin of just 61 votes after preferences.
And at Whyalla, Phill Stone, the former deputy mayor to outgoing mayor Claire McLaughlin has been successful in taking the mayoralty in a tight race against local businessman Tom Antonio.
In other news this week:
In Tasmania, the introduction of compulsory voting at council elections has been hailed as bringing a huge increase in voter participation.
Local Government Minister Nic Street says the voter turnout at the recent elections was 84.7 per cent, up from just 58.7 per cent at the previous elections in 2018.
The government has introduced new legislation to strengthen the code of conduct framework in the state and to provide a better process for dispute resolution.
Reforms include a single, standard code of conduct to apply to all councillors in the state, and a requirement for a council general manager to process any complaint within 14 days of receipt.
The government is also considering bringing the code of conduct framework under the purview of the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
In NSW, executives from the Office of Local Government have met with councillors and staff at Cootamundra-Gundagai to provide an update on the demerger process.
OLG’s Executive Director Ally Dench said it was an opportunity to field questions about the process, recognising the desire for a swift outcome.
She said the process is incredibly complex, with many legislative, financial and community considerations to be taken into account.
A list of frequently asked questions will be made available to the public soon.
In Queensland, Toowoomba Regional Council will spend nearly $28M over the next three years on a rollout of smart meters to all properties in the region.
The rollout follows a trial of almost 2000 meters which successfully detected leaks and significant spikes in usage.
The council says residents will be able to monitor their own water usage effectively, through the use of an app, providing cost savings to the resident and the Council.
There’s a new councillor on the Balonne Shire Council in Queensland after the completion of a by-election last month.
Alexander Benn was elected unopposed to the council of seven, replacing Ian Todd who resigned from the role in September for personal reasons, after 6 and a half years.
And in Cairns, the largest wayfinding trail in an Australian regional city has been installed, within 300 braille and tactile signs placed around the CBD, hospital precinct and school crossings.
It’s the first Queensland location outside of Brisbane to have the service provided to assist people with vision impairment, visitors and people using mobility devices.
You can read more about this innovative project on the LGAQ website.
In Western Australia, the Australian-first engineered offshore fringing reef trial at the City of Cockburn is set to double in size.
A $600k grant from the federal government will kick-start stage two of the wave attenuation reef, adding underwater structures that will double its size at CY O’Connor Beach.
The artificial reef is the first of its kind in Australia designed to reduce wave energy that causes beach erosion; and is seen as an alternative to conventional structures like rock walls and groynes.
The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, which will hold its Annual General Meeting tomorrow, Thursday, 17th November.
The AGM will be held online, via Zoom, commencing at 4.30pm.
Along with the business of the meeting, you’ll hear from guest speaker Mike Gooey, the Executive Director of Local Government Victoria.
All Councillors of a VLGA member council are entitled to attend the AGM. You can find out more, including an agenda and registration details, on the VLGA website – link in the show notes.
Now to today’s International Spotlight, highlighting some stories of interest from beyond our borders..
The race for Mayor of Los Angeles, the USA’s second largest city, was still undecided this week, but media reports suggest LA is about to have its first woman elected mayor.
Democratic Congresswoman Karen Bass has taken a lead over real estate developer Rick Caruso, with around 65 % of the vote counted as of yesterday.
Ms Bass would become only the second Black Angeleno to hold the position.
I recently reported on the number of affordable housing measures that were appearing on ballots around the US during the mid-term elections.
Many of those measures have passed overwhelmingly, according to Nevada Public Radio.
Various measures to fund affordable housing projects, including additional property taxes and bond measures, have passed in cities like Austin, Texas; Palm Beach County, Florida; and Kansas City.
It’s unclear if a so-called mansion tax in Los Angeles will pass, with votes still being counted. City officials have estimated the tax on property sales of more than $5M could raise up to $1B per year to pay for tens of thousands of new affordable housing units.
In the UK, as winter approaches in the midst of an energy crisis, new research suggests that many councils are busy planning ‘warm spaces’ for their residents to shelter from the cold.
Localgov.co.uk reports that nearly 200 out of 355 councils in England and Wales are involved in, or supporting local groups, to provide warm spaces that would help reduce financial pressures on their community members.
A wide range of community facilities are being prepared to help get people through a winter when it’s feared rising energy costs and a deepening recession will heighten the risk of homelessness.
That’s the latest from the Local Government News Roundup, on the day the United Nations says the global population has reached 8 billion people.
You can find more information at our website – lgnewsroundup.com – including our regularly updated list of Victorian mayoral election results and CEO appointment news.
The Local Government News Roundup returns with more on Wednesday, brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the national broadcaster on all things local government; and Technology One’s 2022 Local Government Digital Transformation Index – download your free copy now.
Until then, thanks for listening and bye for now.