Narrogin and Pingelly councils oppose local government election reforms but think ‘minister’s mind is made up’

Two Wheatbelt councils have rebuffed the imposition of mandatory local government voting and four-year, full-spill elections but believe the minister will force the changes regardless.

Both the Narrogin and Pingelly councils unanimously voted to resist all reform suggestions to the Local Government Act in response to the WA Local Government Association’s Statewide survey, at their respective March council meetings.

WA is the only Australian jurisdiction where local councillors serve four-year terms, with half of the members elected every two years.

Voting in the biennial elections is voluntary.

Local Government Minister Hannah Beazley floated rectifying the variation, and requested council-endorsed feedback regarding four-year, full-spill elections and mandatory voting.

Narrogin and Pingelly joined the City of Bunbury, which also opposed the reforms, while the elected members of Busselton, Collie, and Cockburn among others opted to back both amendments to the Local Government Act.

On March 25, Narrogin councillors amended the motion to not support the introduction of the four-year, full-spill elections and made clear they did not support mandatory voting.

“My own concern is the potential loss of all experience every four years if its a full spill,” Cr Murray Fisher said.

“Potentially no-one will re-stand or completely change.

“I see value in a council that’s gone rogue, that’s probably the minister’s intent, but in a council like ours where it’s hard to get community involvement or people to volunteer for positions, it’s wise to keep at least half the council every two years to help newcomers.

“That’s why I support sticking with the status quo for now.”

Cr Clive Bartron said he favours biennial elections because it allows councillors to resign early if need be, giving the example of a previous councillor retiring after two years due to moving towns and not force an extraordinary election.

Shire chief executive Dale Stewart said based on his research, the councillors’ fears were “unfounded”.

“From the research shown, I gather the fears regarding a complete spill are generally unfounded and highly unlikely to occur, but I can understand and appreciate why the elected members have this view,” he said.

Cr Bartron said he “does not fully disagree with the amendments” from a financial perspective.

“I think the current system does work well, but perhaps the ratepayers would appreciate saving $32,000 every second year for election.

“These amounts are significant and something we’re used to, but I’m not sure how many ratepayers are fully aware what we pay for this stuff.”

Mr Stewart said he believes Ms Beazley will make the change regardless of the feedback given by individual councils and that she has “made it very clear” she favours the reforms.

Cr Bartron asked if it was likely WALGA will take notice of what their councils say, to which shire president Leigh Ballard answered no.

Narrogin also supported the legislative reform to allow local governments to administer postal elections themselves.

On March 18, the Shire of Pingelly council also voted against both changes on similar grounds.

The discussion resolved that the limited candidate pool in small communities was better managed in two-year cycles, rather a single high-stake recruitment every four years and that biennial half-spill elections allowed mentoring of incoming members, and mitigated the risks that come with councillors leaving mid-term.

The council also favoured to retain voluntary voting.

Pingelly also voted for WALGA to actively advocate for the investigation and adoption of online voting for WA local government elections.