Ensure that Local Residents run for Local Council - Plug the Loophole for Non Resident Candidates
Petitioner:
Mr Michael Andjelkovic
| Member:
Warren, Greg
| No. of Signatories:
540
| Date closed:
04/08/2021
To the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly,
The Petition of the Residents of New South Wales brings to the attention of the House the loophole that allows non - residents and non - ratepayers to nominate as candidates for local government elections. Under the Local Government Act 1993, the terms “owner of rateable land”, “occupier” and “rate paying lessee” include the nominees of such businesses who can be anyone not even associated with the business.
The undersigned petitioners therefore ask the Legislative Assembly to plug this loophole in the Legislation and change the current eligibility requirements of candidates at local government elections by ensuring that nominees of a business as described in the Act are associated with the business they are nominated by as either the owner, office holder IE Director/ Secretary or Employee of the business that they are nominated by.
Additional Information
At the 2019 Annual Conference, Local Government NSW (LGNSW) incorporated the position that a person wishing to nominate for a particular council area must either be a resident or a ratepayer into the LGNSW Policy Platform.
Voters at council elections should be made aware in a clear and transparent way if the candidates nominated in political party groups are non residents or non ratepayers within the LGA.
Currently this Candidate information is not publicly available unless specifically requested from returning officers' offices or pre−poll voting offices.
Non Residents or Non Ratepayers who have no association with the business should not be Nominees.
