❓ Opposition questions the Local Government Minister about the appropriateness of the Local Government Advisory Board chairman seeking a commissioner position during council amalgamations, alleging the process is compromised. Minister denies direct contact and deems the situation inappropriate.
AnsweredQoN 902Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
LOCAL
GOVERNMENT COMMISSIONER — MEL CONGERTON
902. Mr M. McGOWAN to the
Minister for Local Government:
Mr Speaker —
Mr V.A. Catania interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member
for North West Central, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr M. McGOWAN :
Prior to asking my question, I acknowledge, on behalf of the member for
Bassendean, the Bassendean Primary School P&C, who are in the gallery
today. Thank you for coming.
I refer to the revelation that the
chairman of the Local Government Advisory Board, Mel Congerton, had requested a
position as a local government commissioner, which the minister has deemed as
inappropriate and which compromises all advice he has given in his role as
chairman of the Local Government Advisory Board.
(1) Will the minister release all
correspondence between Mel Congerton and his office?
(2) Does this not
show that the entire amalgamation process has been fatally compromised by Mr Congerton
seeking personal advancement during this process?
GOVERNMENT COMMISSIONER — MEL CONGERTON
902. Mr M. McGOWAN to the
Minister for Local Government:
Mr Speaker —
Mr V.A. Catania interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member
for North West Central, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr M. McGOWAN :
Prior to asking my question, I acknowledge, on behalf of the member for
Bassendean, the Bassendean Primary School P&C, who are in the gallery
today. Thank you for coming.
I refer to the revelation that the
chairman of the Local Government Advisory Board, Mel Congerton, had requested a
position as a local government commissioner, which the minister has deemed as
inappropriate and which compromises all advice he has given in his role as
chairman of the Local Government Advisory Board.
(1) Will the minister release all
correspondence between Mel Congerton and his office?
(2) Does this not
show that the entire amalgamation process has been fatally compromised by Mr Congerton
seeking personal advancement during this process?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question.
(1)–(2) I
wish to put on the record that Mel Congerton has never emailed me, contacted
me, phoned me or spoken to me about becoming a commissioner. He sent an email
to my office.
Several members interjected.
Mr A.J. SIMPSON : I
have had no personal direct contact with him through this process. He has never
raised it. I wish to restate what I said yesterday. I believe that it is
inappropriate —
Ms R. Saffioti interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for West Swan, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr A.J. SIMPSON : I
restate what I said yesterday; it is inappropriate for the chair of the
advisory board to be a commissioner and he will not be made a commissioner as
long as I am the minister. The important thing is that the advisory board has a
job to do, and I acknowledge the work that Mel has done as chairman of the
advisory board. We are now moving forward with the reform process —
Mr M. McGowan :
Fatally compromised. Tainted.
The SPEAKER :
Leader of the Opposition!
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for West Swan, I call you to order for the second time, Leader of the
Opposition for the first time and the Premier for the first time.
Mr A.J. SIMPSON : A
number of former members of local government have contacted my office about the
commissioner's position. The most important thing to remember here is
that the email that came to my office has come through that process —
Mr
M. McGowan : Corrupted.
Withdrawal of Remark
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : The Leader of the Opposition referred to someone being
corrupt. I ask that he withdraw that.
Mr
M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, I will tell you what I said. I said that the
process is corrupted—and it is.
The
SPEAKER : I never heard that comment but I ask everybody to watch
their language.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr A.J. SIMPSON :
It is inappropriate for the chairman of the advisory board to be made a
commissioner. I made that statement very clear. He will not be appointed as
commissioner through this process.
(1)–(2) I
wish to put on the record that Mel Congerton has never emailed me, contacted
me, phoned me or spoken to me about becoming a commissioner. He sent an email
to my office.
Several members interjected.
Mr A.J. SIMPSON : I
have had no personal direct contact with him through this process. He has never
raised it. I wish to restate what I said yesterday. I believe that it is
inappropriate —
Ms R. Saffioti interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for West Swan, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr A.J. SIMPSON : I
restate what I said yesterday; it is inappropriate for the chair of the
advisory board to be a commissioner and he will not be made a commissioner as
long as I am the minister. The important thing is that the advisory board has a
job to do, and I acknowledge the work that Mel has done as chairman of the
advisory board. We are now moving forward with the reform process —
Mr M. McGowan :
Fatally compromised. Tainted.
The SPEAKER :
Leader of the Opposition!
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for West Swan, I call you to order for the second time, Leader of the
Opposition for the first time and the Premier for the first time.
Mr A.J. SIMPSON : A
number of former members of local government have contacted my office about the
commissioner's position. The most important thing to remember here is
that the email that came to my office has come through that process —
Mr
M. McGowan : Corrupted.
Withdrawal of Remark
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : The Leader of the Opposition referred to someone being
corrupt. I ask that he withdraw that.
Mr
M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, I will tell you what I said. I said that the
process is corrupted—and it is.
The
SPEAKER : I never heard that comment but I ask everybody to watch
their language.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr A.J. SIMPSON :
It is inappropriate for the chairman of the advisory board to be made a
commissioner. I made that statement very clear. He will not be appointed as
commissioner through this process.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.