A journalism exercise: Better local government governance

(One of my many studies at the moment is journalism. I may from time to time publish my fledgling efforts in that field here ... sorry) 

Local government will be held to higher standards of governance under new laws announced by Victoria’s State Government.

The Minister for Local Government, Marlene  Kairouz, introduced the Local Government Bill 2018 into Parliament on Tuesday.

The bill, which has been developed after three years of community consultations, repeals and replaces the Local Government Act 1989, and will:

• define sexual harassment and provide the power to remove those who commit harassment;
• provide the Minister the power to suspend individual councillors who pose a significant threat to the governance of a council for up to a year, rather than having to sack the entire Council, and Councils means to remove mayors;
• impose requirements for four year budgets, higher standards in strategic planning and financial management, and require that service charges levied by Councils do not exceed the cost of those services.

The Minister said “We are bringing this Act into the 21^st century – helping make councils more accountable and focused on the needs of their communities. … We want councils focused on the long-term and these changes will help them do exactly that.”

The Andrews Labor state Government has previously implemented rate-capping and the Know Your Council website to improve accountability of local Government.

Previous dismissals of Councils have included the Central Goldfields Shire Council in 2017,and the Greater Geelong City Council in 2016 by the Andrews Government, and the sacking of all Councils, 210 at the time, by Liberal Premier Jeff Kennett in 1994. When the Andrews Government revised the Code of Conduct in 2016, 13 Councils and over 100 councillors came close to being dismissed for failing to sign by the deadline. Special legislation extended the timeline.

In February, the then Lord Mayor of Melbourne resigned over sexual harassment allegations that he “vigorously denied”.

According to the “Know Your Council” website, Victoria's local government sector has 79 Councils, employs over 50,000 people (out of a work force of around 3 million [estimated from here and here]), spends more than $7 billion (in an economy with a Gross State Product of $426 billion) on service delivery and $2 billion on infrastructure annually, and manages over $70 billion in public assets.
The conservative state opposition has been unhappy with some decisions by local Councils, such as changing, after consultations with ratepayers, how Australia Day is observed in response to Indigenous concerns. At that time, the opposition leader called on the State Government to consider "sacking this rabble".

The work of the sector, which is established under the Constitution Act 1975 and the Local Government Act 1989, has expanded as the needs of communities extend and interdependence with other levels of government continues to grow. Currently, services include public health, traffic, parking, and animal management, and maintenance of roads, bridges, drains, town halls, libraries, recreation facilities, parks and gardens.

In Victoria, this work is overseen by the Minister for Local Government. Accountability of elected Councillors and administration, both of whom are subject to Codes of Conduct, includes auditing, financial requirements, and monitoring of performance. Expectations include:

• acting with integrity, honesty and respect;
• exercise responsibilities impartially in the interests of the local community;
• avoiding conflicts of interest;
• exercising reasonable care and diligence;
• endeavour to ensure that public resources are used prudently and in the public interest
• act lawfully; and, for Councillors,
•  lead by example and act in a way that secures public confidence in the office of Councillor.

The third tier of Australia's Government, the Commonwealth, is not directly involved in the regulation or administration of local government. It does, however, support local government through a number of programs, including the provision of funding through financial assistance grants, and encourages innovation in local government through the National Awards for Local Government. 

More on this here and here.