John Carey issues warning to misbehaving councils ahead of local government elections

Troublesome councils have been put on notice, with Local Government Minister John Carey warning of sweeping new intervention powers that are coming to help stamp out dysfunction across the sector. In an exclusive interview ahead of this year’s round of local council elections, Mr Carey told PerthNow the State Government doesn’t have all the “right tools” to deal with issues in WA council chambers, with limited options between local level complaints and full-blown inquiries. “What people are saying is we need to better develop that culture in local government,” he said. “We should have that tool of an inquiry but are there other tools that can deal with that dysfunction of relationships earlier on and are there other regulations we can bring in that greater clarify roles of the CEO, mayor and council.” Mr Carey said he was “still working through” the reforms that would help local councils deal with issues including the “dysfunction of relationships” within a local government. “Let’s focus on developing a great model for early intervention so rather than holding inquiries, there are tools we can get in earlier to assist those councils,” he said. “Whether they voluntarily assist for it or whether the government - through an agency or other bodies - is required to say ‘right we’re coming in to provide you assistance, rather than the punitive of a full inquiry’.” His warning also applies to candidates in this year’s local government elections, as he demanded prospective councillors be willing to advocate for all rather than for just “one precinct, one interest and one street”. “You advocate for all - you listen and engage not just for a particular interest. That is sometimes a mistake some councillors make,” he said. “I don’t want to see a deeply factionalised council or very clear blocs, because ultimately that us-versus-them mentality can be detrimental for local communities.” Mr Carey said “everyone has a right to run” - including politically aligned people - and called for more young people, women and culturally diverse people to put their hand up for a spot at a WA council table. “I might not personally agree with political viewpoints of positions of any candidate but that’s irrelevant because everyone has a right to run and we want people to feel encouraged that they can run,” he said. Mr Carey also ruled out introducing compulsory voting for council elections and declared forced council mergers would remain off the table, describing the last attempt as “a complete stuff up” and “waste of political capital”. Nominations for local government elections open on September 2 and close on September 9.