Western Victoria Region
Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (12:51): (1109) My question for the Minister for Local Government concerns the avoidable damage done to democracy by Labor’s Local Government Act 2020. The act ended the automatic enrolment of all rate-paying property owners like businesses. It broke the fundamental historic, democratic link between taxation and representation. There was no need for this, technical or financial. It was purely a political decision to disenfranchise businesses and non-resident property owners. This matters. Local businesses pay rates; they suffer from council decisions on bike lanes and on zoning, yet it has been made harder for them to have a say. I warned against this four years ago. The numbers are now in, and I feel vindicated. The recent Borough of Queenscliffe’s 2024 electoral roll, the first under the new system, has fallen by around 800 voters, a 19 per cent drop. Minister, when will you correct this mistake and restore automatic enrolment to businesses – (Time expired)