Northern Territory Local Government Reform Is a Shemozzle

Last night’s passage of the Local Government Bill gives no reason for confidence that the Territory Government has ironed out the problems that have beset the process from the beginning, says the Territory Opposition

“Much of the operation of this legislation will be determined by directives known as ministerial guidelines,” says Matt Conlan, Shadow Minister for Local Government.

“The problem is that these critical ministerial directives haven’t even been written.

“These guidelines will determine how local government elections are held, the code of conduct for councillors and rates.

“So the Minister doesn’t even know how the legislation will actually operate, let alone the Parliament or the people of the Territory.

“We may have just opened up a new can of worms in the local government reform process.

“The reform of local government in the Territory has been a shemozzle since the beginning.

“Because the Opposition recognise the need for reform we decided, on balance, to support the legislation.

“I just hope we won’t be back in parliament in 6 months fixing up the mistakes of yesterday.”

2008-05-08