Late Reports Agenda of Ordinary Council - Thursday, 29 September 2022

ATTACHMENT

L.1 Local Government Reform - Election Transition Arrangements

PROPONENT	Shire of Manjimup
OWNER	Shire of Manjimup
LOCATION / ADDRESS:	Whole of Shire
WARD:	All
ZONE:	All
DIRECTORATE:	Office of CEO
FILE REFERENCE:	F160567
LEGISLATION:	Local Government Act 1995
AUTHOR:	Andrew Campbell
DATE OF REPORT:	21 September 2022
DECLARATION OF INTEREST:	The Chief Executive Officer is directly employed under contract by the Council and this matter deals with the structure and function of Council.

Background:

On 20 September 2022 the Minister for Local Government released an instruction to all Western Australian local governments relating to proposed amendments to the Local Government Act 1995 expected to be considered by Parliament in early 2023.

ATTACHMENT: L.1 (1)

The new requirements proposed to be introduced provide for:

1) The introduction of preferential voting;

2) Directly elected Mayors and Presidents for band 1 and 2 local governments;

3) Councillor numbers based on population; and

4) The removal of wards for band 3 and 4 local governments.

The Shire of Manjimup is a band 2 local government and the instruction points 2) and 3) apply, must be determined by Council, and the outcome advised to the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC) by 28 October 2022. Point 1) can be considered in the future as part of the next election process in 2023 and point 4) does not apply. The instruction also makes it abundantly clear that there will be no time extensions to any of the processes due to the need to enact all changes in the Government Gazette by 30 June 2023 in preparation for the 2023 local government elections to be held on 21 October 2023.

The instruction provides two pathways for Council’s consideration in dealing with points 2) and 3) by 28 October 2022:

1) The voluntary pathway where Council must conduct a Ward and Representation Review (to reduce the number of Councillors to between five and nine, and review wards as a result of those changes) with an option to phase in changes over the next one or two election cycles (2023 and 2025) whatever is preferred, and also make a decision by Absolute Majority under s2.11(2) of the Local Government Act 1995 to change the method of electing the Shire President by a direct vote of electors; or

2) The reform election pathway where at the 2023 election, all Councillor positions are declared vacant, all wards are abolished, the number of Councillor positions would be set based on the reform proposals, and the Shire President would be elected by the direct vote of electors in 2023.

Council should also note that if the voluntary pathway is taken but is not adequately completed before 14 February 2023 the reform election pathway will be applied.

The purpose of this report is to consider which election transition pathway Council wishes to follow.

PUBLIC Consultation Undertaken:

Nil.

COMMENT (Includes Options):

Existing Council Arrangements

The current Councillor positions are as follows:

Councillor	Expiry of Term	Ward
Paul Omodei (Shire President)	17 October 2025 (Shire President until 20 October 2023)	Central
Denise Jenkins (Deputy Shire President)	20 October 2023 (Deputy Shire President until 20 October 2023)	Central
Donelle Buegge	17 October 2025	Central
Susan Dawson Vidovich	20 October 2023	Central
Robert Taylor	20 October 2023	Central
Wendy Eiby	17 October 2025	Coastal
Murray Ventris	17 October 2025	West
Ken Lawrence	20 October 2023	West
Jennifer Willcox	17 October 2025	South
Kim Skoss	20 October 2023	North
Cliff Winfield	17 October 2025	East

Voluntary Pathway

Under the voluntary pathway Council will have the opportunity to select between five and nine Councillor positions inclusive of a directly elected Shire President. The reduction in Councillor positions will necessitate reconsideration of the ward system as each ward Councillor also must represent an average number of electors in the local government district plus or minus 10%. All of these actions need to be completed via a Ward and Representation Review finalised before 14 February 2023 with a proposal to be submitted to the Local Government Advisory Board to enable enactment in the Government Gazette by 30 June 2023.

At the time of writing the report a clarification response to the question to the Local Government Advisory Board of whether the directly elected Shire President at the Shire of Manjimup can be phased into the second election cycle in 2025 had not been received. As this clarification is potentially an important option for Councillors to consider, this matter should be determined at the meeting of 20 October 2022 instead of this meeting along with the Ward and Representation Review discussion paper and a high level plan proposal for DLGSC notification by 28 October 2022 if Council chooses to adopt the voluntary pathway.

Given there are five Councillors with terms expiring in 2023 there are a number of permutations that can be considered under the voluntary pathway however this does not form part of this report and is not for consideration, debate or decision at this meeting.

If Council opts to take the voluntary pathway the following is the anticipated timeline for completion:

Action	Council Meeting Date
Report to determine whether to opt in voluntarily or not. Includes a decision to commence a Ward and Representation Review.	29 September 2022
If the voluntary pathway is resolved by Council: · Resolve to commence six weeks public consultation on the Ward and Representation Review discussion paper; · Resolve by Absolute Majority to have a directly elected Shire President; and · Endorse a high level plan to submit to DLGSC by 28 October 2022.	20 October 2022
Consider the outcome of six weeks public consultation and resolve to adopt a compliant proposal by Absolute Majority from the Ward and Representation Review (noting the new legislation relating to Councillor numbers must be complied with).	8 December 2022 or at latest one of the first two meetings in 2023 (date yet to be set by Council but likely to be 19 January 2023 and 9 February 2023)
Shire of Manjimup to advise Local Government Advisory Board of any proposal from the Ward and Representation Review by 14 February 2023.	By 14 February 2023 at the latest or the reform election pathway applies.

Reform Election Pathway

Whilst the reform election pathway is the simplest approach in that the proposed 2023 legislation will determine the requirements, the administration will not have a significant workload arising from a Ward and Representation Review, and Council is not required to make any immediate decisions on the matter, it is considered to be an approach that is not only potentially flawed in its outcome but also removes all decision making control about election transition from the existing Council.

It is considered that the reform election pathway is potentially flawed for the following reasons:

· Councillors that have been elected to positions until 2025 will be required to vacate their positions, renominate in 2023 and must be elected again if they wish to remain as a Councillor;

· If all Councillor positions are vacated at once, the 2023 election will have to provide for terms both of four years and two years to enable the ordinary two year election cycles to be re-established;

· Local government populations between 5,000 and 75,000 people are permitted to have between five and nine Councillors including the Mayor or Shire President. Under the reform election pathway there is no further advice on the number of Shire of Manjimup Councillors that would be allocated and how those numbers would be determined. However, it is likely that either the State or legislation could direct the Shire of Manjimup and if this is the case, given the population is on the lower end of the indicative population range, it is highly probable that the Shire of Manjimup would be allocated five Councillors including the directly elected Shire President; and

· All wards would be automatically abandoned without adequate consideration by the Council and community through a Ward and Representation Review. Whilst possibly wards could be reinstated through a future Ward and Representation Review, potential issues recently observed elsewhere and linked to a no ward system (such as significant populations of interest (towns) with no local representation) could manifest in the interim.

On the basis above it is not recommended that Council opt for the reform election pathway and instead take the voluntary pathway as the most suitable option.

STATUTORY ENVIRONMENT:

Reforms to the Local Government Act 1995 are proposed early in 2023. Given the current makeup of Parliament it is extremely likely that amendments to the Local Government Act 1995 will occur as per the timeframes indicated by the Minister for Local Government.

Policy / Strategic Implications:

With reforms to the Local Government Act 1995 appearing inevitable, it is considered essential that Council retains some decision making ability during the process. Council has been kept informed and has made previous consultative submissions to the Local Government Act 1995 reform process over the past three years.

Organisational risk management:

If the Shire of Manjimup does not act on this matter the default position will be the reform election pathway and any decision making control of the outcome will be taken away from Council. The risk of this could lead to undesirable consequences including reputational damage for the Shire of Manjimup.

Financial Implications:

Whatever pathway is taken there will be some cost savings for the Shire of Manjimup resulting from the reduction in numbers of Councillors. Until Council makes a decision on the pathway and the other processes play out, savings are not quantifiable.

Sustainability:

Environmental: Nil.

Economic: Nil.

Social: Nil.

VOTING REQUIREMENTS: SIMPLE MAJORITY

Officer Recommendation:

That Council:

1) Adopt the “voluntary pathway” for the election transition arrangements as part of the local government reform process;

2) Comply with the Minister for Local Government’s instruction for the “voluntary pathway” as outlined in Attachment: L.1 (1);

3) Subject to adoption of point 1), agree to initiate a Ward and Representation Review for the Shire of Manjimup; and

4) Direct the Chief Executive Officer to produce a Ward and Representation Review Discussion Paper for consideration at the Council meeting 20 October 2022.

ATTACHMENTS
1 ⇩	Election Transition Arrangements - Instruction	5 Pages