2018-12-11 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                     11 DECEMBER 2018


                                                                                          ATTACHMENT 1
SUMMARY OF LEGISLATIVE CHANGES

1.    Local Government Electoral (Implementing Stage 1 of Belcarra) and Other Legislative
      Amendment Act 2018

Outlined below is an overview of the salient features of the legislative amendments relating to
operation Belcarra.

 Prohibited Donations
 To implement recommendation 20 of the Belcarra report, amendments have been made to the Electoral
 Act 1992 and the Local Government Electoral Act 2011 to prohibit the making of political donations by
 property developers to candidates, groups of candidates, third parties, political parties, Councillors and
 Members of State Parliament.

 A prohibited donor is defined as a property developer and any industry representative organisation whose
 members are mainly property developers. Each of the following is a property developer as defined by the
 Act:
    A corporation engaged in the business that regularly involves the making of relevant planning
      applications by or on behalf of a corporation in connection with the residential or commercial
      development land and with the ultimate purpose of the sale or lease of land for profit; and
    A close associate of a corporation referred to above.

 The prohibitions on donations apply from 12 October 2017. Prohibited donations made on or after that
 date need to be repaid to the donor within 30 days of the commencement of the Local Government
 Electoral (Implementing Stage 1 of Belcarra) and Other Legislative Amendment Act 2018, which was 21
 May 2018.

 A person who does not comply with a prohibition about political donations may be guilty of an offence with
 a maximum penalty of 400 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment.

 Material Personal Interest and Conflict of Interest
 Material Personal Interest
 Section 175B(1) of the Local Government Act 2009 provides that a Councillor has a material personal
 interest in a matter if any of the following stand to gain or benefit, or suffer a loss, (either directly or
 indirectly) depending on the outcome of consideration of the matter –
 (a)    the Councillor;
 (b)    a spouse of the Councillor;
 (c)    a parent, child or sibling of the Councillor;
 (d)    a person who is in partnership with the Councillor;
 (e)    an employer, other than the government entity, of a Councillor;
 (f)    an entity, other than a government entity, of which the Councillor is a member;
 (g)    another entity prescribed by legislation.

 Section 175B(2) provides that a Councillor does not have a material personal interest in the matter if the
 Councillor, or another person or entity mentioned in subsection (1), stands to gain a benefit or suffer a
 loss that is no greater than that of other persons in the local government area.

 Section 175B(2) provides that’s section 175B(1)(c) only applies to a Councillor if the Councillor knows, or
 ought reasonably to know, that the Councillor’s parent, child or sibling, stands to gain a benefit or loss.

 Whilst the definition of material personal interest has not changed, more particularisation is required on
 the nature of such as disclosure at a Council or Committee meeting.



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