On Friday 14th September, the West Australian
reported on the newly-released Annual Report of the Local Government Standards
Panel ('Councillors face complaints surge', West Australian, 14 September),
focusing on the increase in
complaints rather than the substance of the report.
The substance provides a rather less pessimistic
picture.
Overall, there were fewer than six complaints per
ten councils and less than one-third of those determined were upheld. That's
less than one upheld complaint for every five councils in WA over the whole
year.
For metropolitan councils, if we exclude
Melville, which accounted for over a quarter of metropolitan complaints, there
was less than one complaint per council.
For non-metropolitan councils, if we exclude Port
Hedland, which accounted for nearly 20% of regional complaints, there was one
complaint for every three councils.
These rates are hardly evidence of of systemic
problem. Indeed, it could be argued that were the rates any lower it would be
evidence that people didn't care sufficiently about local government. If
anything, these rates are a strong suggestion that Melville and Port Hedland
should be looked at much more closely for issues specific to them.
Even a 44% increase in such a small number is evidence
of the axiom that "100% of very little is still very little" (usually
expressed more bluntly than that) rather than anything else. There is not even
any mention (nor was there in the LGSP report) of whether the 21 findings
that a breach occurred was an increase on previous years, although this is
surely a more important measure than the simple increase in the number of
complaints.
Most important of all, the report (not to mention
WALGA's reported response) ignores the fact only 17 of 82 complaints (just
one per eight councils) came from the communities local councils serve.
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| Source: Local Government Standards Panel Annual Report 2017-18 |
WALGA's reported response, blaming newly-elected councillors being 'less
aware of the rules of conduct' is pure supposition and appears to have more to
do with WALGA's agenda to increase its influence by having mandatory training
for all elected members than it has to do with the LGSP report itself.
The West Australian also fails to mention the stress imposed on the
two-thirds of complained-against councillors where complaints were dismissed.
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| West Australian, 14 September 2018 |
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