Thursday, 29 August 2024

 Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (14:24): My question is to the Minister for Local Government. Council elections are coming up in October, but here in the City of Melbourne the voting system is deeply undemocratic. In the City of Melbourne, residents get one vote each while businesses get two votes each. That includes national and overseas business owners who may have otherwise never set foot in our city. It means residents living in our city get much less say on how their city is run than multinational corporations. In fact residents make up just 40 per cent of all votes in the City of Melbourne. Minister, will the Labor government finally fix this undemocratic voting system and bring back the commonsense principle of one resident, one vote?

 Melissa HORNE (Williamstown – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Local Government, Minister for Ports and Freight, Minister for Roads and Road Safety) (14:25): I ‍thank the member for her question about local government elections. I appreciate the Greens have got a keen interest in the upcoming local government elections, because after all that is where they do tend to play most of the time. I do not know if the member is aware that recently we amended the Local Government Act, and that was to improve a vast array of protections to ensure there is a uniform code of conduct, there is mandatory training for local councils and there are a number of other –

Sam Hibbins: On a point of order, Speaker, the member for Melbourne asked a question that went specifically to the City of Melbourne Act. The minister is talking about the Local Government Act. They are two separate pieces of legislation, and I ask, on relevance, that the minister actually answer the question about the City of Melbourne Act.

The SPEAKER: I ask the minister to come back to the question.

Melissa HORNE: The answer is no.

 Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (14:27): Minister, is the real reason Labor will not change the undemocratic voting system in the City of Melbourne because Labor relies on votes from big corporations and property investors and, if only residents voted, they might actually elect someone else, like the Greens?

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Melbourne, could you repeat the last half of your question, in silence.

Ellen SANDELL: Is the real reason Labor will not change the voting system because Labor relies on votes from big corporations and property investors and, if only residents voted, they might actually vote for someone else, like the Greens?

 Melissa HORNE (Williamstown – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Local Government, Minister for Ports and Freight, Minister for Roads and Road Safety) (14:28): That is a fantastic question. I really thank the member for her question, because there is nothing that smacks more of desperation than trying to get your own candidate up in the upcoming local government elections. This is a democratic process. We look forward to the results in October 2024.