The Opposition is calling for an independent investigation into the disastrous failure of Minister Geoff Brock and the Electoral Commission of South Australia following an embarrassing breakdown in the communication and reporting processes of council elections.
Councils and communities across the state were plunged into chaos after the local government election bungle, which saw terrible communication – to only some of the 45 elected members impacted – that their positions would be revoked, triggering an onerous appeal process with the South Australian Civil & Administrative Tribunal.
Legislation says members who fail to lodge a form by a particular date disclosing gifts or donations received must vacate their office unless an appeal with the South Australian Civil & Administrative Tribunal is won.
Shadow Minister for Local Government, Sam Telfer, said the council election fiasco should have been avoided and must be “comprehensively investigated by an independent body”.
“No matter which way you look at this council election fiasco, it’s been an epic failure and it should have and could have been avoided,” Mr Telfer said.
“Minister Geoff Brock seems to have been completely ignorant as to what was happening right under his nose and didn’t even bother to question the Electoral Commission on whether the process was running smoothly.
“Surely ECSA had line of sight of this problem for weeks, but were seemingly flat-footed and disorganised, and now we’re seeing the result of a lack of action play out.
“We have a significant number of reports of the ECSA reporting portal crashing, the legislated communications from ECSA being late, and wrong information being provided to councillors
“That’s why we need an independent investigation that looks at the actions and failures of Geoff Brock and ECSA, particularly in respect to the process and procedure of communication – or lack thereof – which could have seen this situation avoided entirely.
“Geoff Brock, for once, needs to act and have an independent body investigate so the mistakes made this time aren’t ever repeated. Situations like these frustrate South Australians and severely impacts the community’s faith in the ability of local government.”