{"id":208944,"date":"2018-05-17T18:23:58","date_gmt":"2018-05-17T08:23:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=208944"},"modified":"2020-09-24T13:17:37","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T03:17:37","slug":"mps-approve-new-council-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/05\/17\/mps-approve-new-council-laws\/","title":{"rendered":"MPs Approve New Council Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Local Government Minister
Stirling Hinchliffe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

May 17, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

State Parliament has passed a series of laws aimed at improving accountability and transparency in Local Government.<\/p>\n

Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the reforms, passed on Thursday, would make Mayors, Councillors and Councils more accountable to their communities.<\/p>\n

But the LNP accused the Labor Party of “ignoring sensible safeguards” and “railroading” the legislative changes through Parliament.<\/p>\n

Mr Hinchliffe said good government has been lacking at some of Queensland\u2019s biggest councils.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are currently a number of mayors, councillors and council officers in Queensland facing dozens of criminal charges between them,” he said.<\/p>\n

At least five elected representatives are expected to be immediately affected, including at Ipswich and Logan councils.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Crime and Corruption Commission has warned there are more charges on the way,” Mr Hinchliffe said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOur reforms are not designed to catch those who make genuine mistakes, but to deal with the tiny minority not living up to community expectations.”<\/p>\n

Legislative amendments which have been passed include:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • An automatic suspension for any Councillor charged with one of a series of offences;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \n
    • An expansion of the powers of the Local Government Minister to dismiss or suspend a Council or a Mayor \/ Councillor in the public interest;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        \n
      • An obligation on councillors to report another councillor\u2019s conflict of interest or material personal interest, if they believe or suspect on reasonable grounds, there is an undeclared interest;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
          \n
        • Improved procedures for the handling of complaints against councillors to make the process more transparent and independent, via a Councillor Conduct Tribunal which will hear and determine alleged misconduct;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
            \n
          • The introduction of an Independent Assessor to assess complaints against Councillors, taking this role out of the hands of council CEOs; and<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
              \n
            • A ban on political donations from property developers; the LNP unsuccessfully tried to also ban political donations by unions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

              Mr Hinchliffe said the reforms were in response to the CCC\u2019s “Operation Belcarra” which found widespread non-compliance with legislative obligations relating to local government elections and political donations.<\/p>\n

              * * *\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

              Shadow Local Government Minister Ann Leahy said the LNP supported tough laws but claimed checks and balances were missing in the new legislation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

              \u201cLabor actually voted against a two-year review clause that they announced,” she said.<\/p>\n

              \u201cThe ability for a Minister to sack a duly elected official shouldn\u2019t be unfettered.<\/p>\n

              \u201cAnnastacia Palaszczuk has recklessly rejected the sensible safeguards proposed by the LNP.<\/p>\n

              \u201cLabor has arrogantly gagged debate on this bill, including myself in mid-sentence, and these unprecedented amendments haven\u2019t been subject to the normal committee process.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              Parliament has passed a series of laws aimed at improving accountability and transparency in Local Government <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":278289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22,3],"tags":[1131],"yoast_head":"\nMPs Approve New Council Laws - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"State Parliament has passed a series of laws aimed at improving accountability and transparency in Local Government.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/05\/17\/mps-approve-new-council-laws\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MPs Approve New Council Laws - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"State Parliament has passed a series of laws aimed at improving accountability and transparency in Local Government.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/05\/17\/mps-approve-new-council-laws\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-17T08:23:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-24T03:17:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/stirlinghinchcliffe-f-300x2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/05\/17\/mps-approve-new-council-laws\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/05\/17\/mps-approve-new-council-laws\/\",\"name\":\"MPs Approve New Council Laws - 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