Hon. Darren West questions the Minister regarding non-compliant internal guidelines within local governments, specifically the City of Greater Geraldton. The Minister acknowledges the issue in Geraldton but takes no further action, citing local government autonomy.

AnsweredQoN 1106Legislative Council
Asked
12 October 2016
Portfolio
Local Government

QuestionView source ↗

LOCAL GOVERNMENT — INTERNAL GUIDELINES
1106. Hon DARREN WEST to the minister
representing the Minister for Local Government:
(1) Is the
minister aware that the City of Greater Geraldton is operating under internal
guidelines that do not comply with the current Local Government Act?
(2) Is the
minister aware of any other local government authorities that are using
internal guidelines that do not comply with the current Local Government Act?
(3) Who is responsible
for ensuring that local government authorities' internal guidelines
comply with the Local Government Act?
(4) What action
will the minister take to ensure that all local government authorities review
their internal guidelines to address this?
(5) What penalties, if any, apply to local government
authorities that operate outside the Local Government Act?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the member for some notice
of the question.
(1) Yes.
(2) No.
(3) It is the
responsibility of each local government to ensure that they comply with the
Local Government Act 1995 regarding their internal guidelines and other such
matters.
(4) The Liberal–National
government supports and acknowledges all our local governments as having
largely autonomous decision-making and community roles under the Local
Government Act 1995. As such, the minister does not propose to take any further
action.
(5) The offence provisions in the
Local Government Act do not apply to the circumstances in Geraldton.

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