Hon John Carey MLA, Minister for Housing, Lands, Homelessness and Local Government, has announced local government reforms that he describes as the most significant in more than 25 years.
The reforms include:
- the introduction of optional preferential voting
- directly elected Mayors and Presidents for band 1 and 2 local governments
- councillor numbers based on population
- the removal of wards for band 3 and 4 local governments.
Under these reforms, 48 local governments will be required to reduce the size of their Council, and 22 local governments will need to change to electing the Mayor or President by a public vote of ratepayers.
For City of Subiaco, no such changes will be needed, as confirmed in a recent letter from Minister Carey.
City of Subiaco Mayor David McMullen said, "Last year, we made changes to the size of our Council, and resolved to continue with the method of popularly electing the Mayor. That is the method by which Subiaco’s community elected me as Mayor, in 2021.
“As to the reforms more generally, Council has
previously emphasized the importance of cultural change, better understanding of governance at a practical level, and better real world understanding of statutory roles, over a reliance on legislative reform as the pathway to success in local government.
“Council has also been clear in its rejection of preferential voting, because of what we consider to be its susceptibility to influence and interference from political parties.”
To read about the City Council, local laws, and other City operations, see here:
https://www.subiaco.wa.gov.au/your-council/council-business-en.