More power for Minister, stronger code of conduct: Local government reforms pass

THE state government last week, with the support of the Liberal Party, passed a raft of local government reforms through the upper house.

The reforms aim to improve council accountability, governance and the standards of behaviour across Victoria’s 79 councils and will be in place as new councils take office following this year’s October elections.

The legislation changes will see the introduction of a uniform councillor code of conduct and new mandatory training, along with stronger sanctions for misconduct.

The Minister for Local Government will also receive strengthened powers to reprimand and suspend councillors that are found to have created serious health and safety risks or are preventing their council from performing its functions.

Current Local Government Minister Melissa Horne said the new legislation would ensure “all Victorians can be confident in their local representatives”.

“These reforms have been developed through extensive consultation with the local government sector and will help councillors perform their roles effectively,” she said.

Since 2020’s council elections, 56 councillors have resigned, and 12 councils have had municipal monitors appointed, with one council suspended and another dismissed.

In this time, the City of Greater Geelong has had municipal monitors appointed twice, first in January 2023 to oversee the selection of a new chief executive and again in April, only months after the end of their first term, with Ms Horne stating “work still needs to be done to improve governance practices”.

City of Greater Geelong chief executive Ali Wastie welcomed the reforms.

“These changes will help councils perform more effectively, and also reflect our council and the organisation’s joint commitment to work constructively and deliver quality services and infrastructure for the community,” she said.

Meanwhile, Borough of Queenscliffe councillor Donnie Grigau said the new legislation was “appalling”.

“They’re really killing off democracy…What’s the point of having a local council?

“We’re being a useful idiot for the government of the time.

“Here we are to represent our local community, but the state government wants to silence us.”

Of particular concern for Mr Grigau is the strengthening of the Minister’s powers and how fairly this may be deployed.

“We’re elected officials,” he said.

“The only time we should be removed is at the ballot box, unless you’ve done some mortal crime.

“What’s the process of removing a state member then? It has to be fair. What’s good for the goose must be good for the gander.”

Many of Mr Grigau’s concerns mirror those of Council Watch president Dean Hurlston, who has labelled the reforms a “control mechanism” that denies councillors procedural fairness and binds them to a conduct system “that can be used purely for political retribution, at ratepayers’ expense”.

“All this legislation will do is cripple councillors from being able to speak openly about what the issues are,” Mr Hurlston said to this masthead of the then-proposed local government reforms late last year.

“It’ll stifle freedom of speech and robust debate, which is what’s expected in the council chamber between councillors.”

While he agreed better behaviour among councillors was needed, he said the “vast majority” of issues with local government stem from “poor administration and really sloppy processes”, with councillors lacking training, subjected to bullying and frequently denied information by the administration.

“The only way its fixable is if we’re honest about where it’s at,” Mr Hurlston said.

“The solution to a lot of the industry’s problems is to put the councillors back at the centre of what councils do and put the administration, respectfully, to the side as people who are there to help and guide, not as those who control the industry.”