Mayor welcomes crack down on misconduct

Strathbogie Shire Council Mayor, Cr Laura Binks, is applauding tougher new laws to crack down of councillor misconduct.

Cr Binks said the move by Local Government Minister Melissa Horne was welcome news for the Local Government sector.

“I am thrilled to hear of these much-needed reforms and further tools to improve the culture in Council chambers,” Cr Binks said.

“I’m excited for a new chapter of Local Government where all can expect and help create safe, respectful, and professional decision-making environments.

“At the moment all a Councillor has to do is resign to make the consequences of a code of conduct breach go away.

“How is this transparent? How does it protect Councillors doing the right thing?”

On Friday, it was revealed the minister would introduce new powers next year to crack down on councillor misconduct.

The new powers aim to tackle poor councillor behaviour by allowing the government to suspend or disqualify individual councillors found to have created a “risk to health and safety”.

Strathbogie Shire Council has been plagued by conduct and governance concerns, with two municipal monitors appointed to the Council in as many years.

“We have experienced multiple code of conduct breaches and regular unacceptable behaviour towards each other, the CEO, and the Council Officers,” she said.

“It has been awful, but this news makes our fight worthwhile.

“Sitting back and doing nothing, or in fact resigning, would have been much easier, but I am not willing to compromise on workplace safety.”

She said tougher laws would hold Councillors accountable for their actions.

“It is all our responsibilities to understand and uphold the Local Government Act and the many policies, plans, charters, and strategies that are a part of Strathbogie Shire Council.

“The most important of these, I believe, is the Strathbogie Shire Councillor Code of Conduct. It is a document which has very clear standards of conduct, as are prescribed under the Local Government Act.

“The failure to uphold these standards of conduct leads to a disrespectful and unsafe workplace.

“This is unacceptable.”