Hansard debates

Mrs PEULICH (South Eastern Metropolitan) — I have on a number of occasions raised matters in relation to local government and in particular the need for reform. I guess I am disappointed that the review of the Local Government Act 1989 is taking so long.

Mr Davis interjected.

Mrs PEULICH — Yes. But the matter I wish to raise tonight for the attention of the Minister for Local Government is the need for an audit of democratic practices across local government. That is an important key performance indicator (KPI). Whether it is the manner in which public consultation occurs, the standing orders that are applied, the frequency of use of in camera meetings or other practices, I am not here to nominate the KPIs that would be used in such an audit. But it is important, because there are some variations and unfortunately the biggest concern is the inconsistency with which the minister responds to these matters.

We have seen action taken to sack the Geelong City Council on grounds that could easily be applied to every other local government area. We saw today the tabling of an Ombudsman's report, Investigation into Casey City Council's Special Charge Scheme for Market Lane. I was actually stunned to see that this Ombudsman's report was tabled or even undertaken; I was not aware of it at all. It sounds like a hanging offence. I have just quickly read through the recommendations, and clearly there are some improvements that are required. But suddenly today I learnt that the minister has also taken the initiative of actually appointing a monitor.

Obviously the minister is free to do that, but it would seem to me that there have not been public grounds that justify or necessitate that action, especially when compared to other councils that have actually come to the public's attention, such as the City of Monash, which is controlled by the Labor Party, and in particular mayor Geoff Lake, who has rammed through a special type of standing order whereby elected councillors have to put their hands on their heads to take a point of order.

It seems to me that all local government areas should be assessed on performance. Therefore I call on the minister to undertake or arrange for an independent review of the democratic practices of all local governments so that we can identify those councils that need to be dealt with sternly and the reforms that need to occur across the system and indeed so that all that information can be taken on board when the Local Government Act 1989 is finally reviewed and a new bill is brought forward as a draft. I call on the minister to do this immediately, because my concern is that political motives colour her actions more than the actual performance of local governments. There are certainly some local governments that have deserved her prompt attention but that she has failed to respond to.

The PRESIDENT — Order! I was going to refer to the Procedure Committee the idea of requiring hands on heads for points of order in here!

Mr Finn interjected.

The PRESIDENT — I already act like a schoolteacher sometimes, so it seems like a natural progression, really. I thank Mr Finn.

Can I just indicate that Mrs Peulich's adjournment item is somewhat similar to one she has raised previously in respect of checking on by-laws used across local government. I am of the view that this is a broader review that she is seeking, so I do not believe that it is a problem for this adjournment item to stand in its own right tonight.