It is often said a week is a long time in politics, but a mere 24-hours is all the Andrews government needs to get itself into an almighty tangle.

Hot on the heels of the damaging public transport disaster and CFA debacle comes another significant blow to the state Labor Party’s credibility.

How could a situation arise whereby so many of the state’s 79 councils and their elected representatives end up on the cusp of dismissal?

Where is the communication between the Minister for Local Government, or at the very least her department, and the councils that had not fulfilled their obligations under the new code of conduct?

On the flip side, if the non-compliant councils were confused about the process, why did they not seek advice?

Instead of nipping the crisis in the bud, it was left for the Local Government Investigations and Compliance Inspectorate to check for compliance with the code and conduct.

The result was a recommendation that 13 councils, including Campaspe, Mt Alexander and Central Goldfields, and 107 councillors, including Elise Chapman, be “disqualified” from September 1.

The prospect of turfing out so many councillors and installing administrators so close to elections was, quite frankly, absurd, especially when in most cases the breaches were inadvertent.

The Municipal Association of Victoria lays the blame firmly at the state government’s feet, saying it “failed to articulate a clear and unambiguous process and timelines”.

Thankfully, common sense prevailed yesterday and Premier Daniel Andrews gave those in the gun a stay of execution.

None of the criticism over the handling of the transition to the new code of conduct, by both state and local government, should in any way erode its value.

It is imperative to have clear guidelines governing the behaviour of our elected councillors.

Bendigo knows better than most the damage a dysfunctional council, driven by self-interest, can do to a community’s reputation.

It is a privileged position to be a councillor and an elected civic leader must be held to a high – and uniform – standard of behaviour.

- Ross Tyson, deputy editor