UPDATE 1.40pm: City of Greater Bendigo mayor Margaret O’Rourke has welcomed proposed changes to local government laws, which include new standards for councils and give the Local Government Minister the power to remove troublesome councillors.
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Cr O’Rourke said the proposed changes were positive.
“We welcome the changes, and I think they will protect and uphold council governance structures,” Cr O’Rourke said. She said good governance was critical to the council’s operations.
Cr O’Rourke said the requirements of the proposed new laws would not be onerous on the council.
The council had a four-year community plan, she said, and the council had already begun working towards a system whereby this guided the budget.
EARLIER: The Victorian government has introduced proposed new local government laws to Parliament, which would give the minister the power to suspend individual councillors who threaten the governance of a council.
Under the proposed legislation, the Minister for Local Government could suspend councillors for up to a year if they posed a significant threat.
“Mayors and councillors who behave badly will be gone for a year – the days of them acting with impunity are over,” Local Government Minister Marlene Kairouz said.
Under the proposed laws, councils would have to develop four-year budgets and mayors would be required to report to the community each year the council’s progress in delivering plans.
The government says the bill also contains measures to ensure councils do not charge service levies that exceed the cost of delivering those services.
Mayors serving two-year terms could be ousted if three-quarters of all councillors in office moved a motion to do so.
The government says the proposed legislation clearly defines sexual harassment under the Councillor Code of Conduct, and introduces the power to remove councillors for serious sexual harassment.
Ms Kairouz said the government wanted councils focused on the long-term, and these changes aimed to help them do that.
The Local Government Bill will, if passed, replace the current Local Government Act.