2019-08-06 S&O Agenda - Item 6 - Attachment 2 - Draft New Standing Orders for Noosa Council

20. Material Personal Interest
Councillors are ultimately responsible for informing of a material personal interest on matters to be
discussed at a Council or Standing Committee meeting. When dealing with a material personal
interest, Councillors must abide by the following procedures:
20.1 A Councillor with a material personal interest must inform the meeting of the Local Government
     of their material personal interest and set out the nature of the interest, including:
      a)    The name of the person or other entity who stands to gain a benefit, or suffer a loss,
            depending on the outcome of the consideration of the matter at the meeting;
      b)    How a person or other entity stands to gain the benefit or suffer the loss;
      c)    If the person or other entity who stands to gain the benefit or suffer the loss is not the
            Councillor – the nature of the Councillor’s relationship to the person or entity.
20.2 The Councillor must then leave the place of the meeting and stay away while the matter is
     being discussed and voted on unless the subject Councillor has Ministerial approval to
     participate in the matter. The Councillor must not influence or attempt to influence the
     remaining Councillors to vote on the matter in a particular way.
20.3 Once the Councillor has left the area where the meeting is being conducted, the Local
     Government can continue discussing and deciding on the matter at hand.
20.4 If a Councillor at a meeting reasonably believes, or reasonably suspects that another
     Councillor has a material personal interest in a matter to be discussed at the meeting and has
     not informed the meeting about the interest, the Councillor must advise the Chairperson of the
     meeting, as soon as practicable, about their belief or suspicion, and the facts and
     circumstances that form the basis of the belief or suspicion.
20.5 The Chairperson then should ask the Councillor with the suspected material personal interest
     whether they do in fact have a material personal interest. If that is the case, the Councillor must
     follow the above procedures from item 20.1.
20.6 In the event the majority of Councillors inform a meeting of a material personal interest
     regarding a matter:
      a)    the Local Government must resolve to delegate the consideration and decision on the
            matter, pursuant to section 257 of the Local Government Act; or
      b)    if the matter cannot be delegated under section 257 of the Local Government Act, the
            Local Government should seek Ministerial approval for the Councillors to be able to
            consider and vote on the matter, subject to any conditions the Minister for Local
            Government may impose.
20.7 Where a Councillor informs a meeting of a material personal interest in a matter, the
     Chairperson must ensure the minutes of the meeting (to be posted on the Council’s website)
     record:
      a)    The name of the Councillor who has a material personal interest in the matter;
      b)    The material personal interest, including the particulars mentioned by the Councillor
            regarding the material personal interest;
      c)    Whether the Councillor participated in the meeting, or was present during the meeting,
            under an approval granted by the Minister for Local Government.




Standing Orders for Council Meetings                                                             Page 9