Wednesday, 29 October 2025

 Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (18:53): (2061) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Local Government, and the action I seek is that the minister review the local government reforms being delivered by the Crisafulli government in Queensland. Across Victoria I meet councillors from every corner and of every political persuasion. A common theme that has emerged is that local government has become a patsy for the state. They are being crushed by cost shifting, strangled by Orwellian so-called integrity measures and left to fend for themselves under mountains of debt and red tape. But north of the border the approach could not be more different. The Liberal–National government of Premier David Crisafulli is treating local government as an equal partner in government. They have taken swift action to repair Labor’s broken relationship with councils. They have established a red tape reduction taskforce to tear down the bureaucratic barriers holding councils back. They have launched a depreciation taskforce to help local government tackle depreciation costs and deliver better value for ratepayers, and they have locked in funding for the Works for Queensland program, creating jobs and building regional infrastructure where it is needed most. At the Local Government Association of Queensland’s annual conference Premier Crisafulli announced sweeping reforms, including clarifying the roles of mayors and councillors, empowering them to speak freely and removing conduct breaches from the councillor code of conduct framework.

Meanwhile, here in Victoria this Labor government continues its crusade against local government. Their model councillor code of conduct, rammed through late last year, has well and truly succeeded in silencing dissent. It is punishing those who dare to challenge the government’s pet projects or its activist allies on council. In May, Baw Baw shire councillor Danny Goss, a popular and plain-spoken mayor, was suspended for 21 days for what amounted to a bit of straight talking. If he was an MP, the worst he would get for his colloquialisms and rural wit is a warning in the chamber. Then in September, Surf Coast councillor Paul Barker was benched for a month after questioning the attendance numbers at a so-called truth-telling event promoted by his council on social media. It was not even in the council chamber, and since when was asking a factual question worthy of a suspension? This is what happens when government replaces common sense with political correctness, when councillors are punished for words instead of outcomes. The sector has had a gutful of monitors, arbiters and compliance officers. Let us get back to roads, rates and rubbish rather than foreign affairs and fringe ideologies. I urge the minister to study Queensland’s reforms. If they can cut red tape and treat councils as equals, so can we. Local government should serve its communities rather than the political elites of Spring Street.