Communique

Executive Meeting September 16 2015

Local Government’s role in the economic growth of the State was a key point of discussion at the third meeting of the Premier’s State/Local Government Forum Executive, held in Adelaide today. The Premier and LGA President jointly acknowledged the capacity of councils to contribute tonew economic activity and jobs in South Australia.

The Forum Executive also noted that the benefits of planning reform will be optimised if State and Local Government work in partnership in the delivery of a new system, making our State the best place to do business and grow investment and jobs.

The Forum Executive also discussed progress on a number of local government reform matters identified at previous meetings including:

  • Revising the Local Government Act 1999to enable better processes for debate and discussion on potential council boundary changes and structural reform.
  • Exploring regional governance models that can provide better and more efficient services across a group of councils.

How to improve local government elections and increase participation, both from candidates and voters, was another point of discussion. The Office of Local Government has released a discussion paper covering a range of local government election issues, including electronic voting, automatic property franchise entitlement, caretaker provisions, the possible concurrent timing of State and Local Government elections, and disclosure of candidate’s political affiliations and memberships.

Prepared with input from the SA Electoral Commission and the Local Government Association, this discussion paper will be released publicly for comment, and to inform the potential improvements of local government elections.

The Forum Executive brings together the leaders of State and Local Government to discuss matters of mutual interest and to enhance cooperation for the benefit of South Australian communities.

The Forum is chaired by the Premier and the Local Government sector is led by the President of the Local Government Association, Mayor Dave Burgess.

Today’s Executive Meeting was attended bythe Minister for Local Government, Hon Geoff Brock MP, the LGA Immediate Past President, Mayor David O’Loughlin and the newly appointed LGA Chief Executive, Matt Pinnegar.