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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 16 asked in the Legislative Council on 12 February 2019 by Hon Charles Smith

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

LOCAL GOVERNMENT — COMMON-USE SERVICES

16. Hon CHARLES SMITH to the Leader of the House representing the Minister for Local Government:

I refer to the Western Australian Local Government Association providing common-use services to local governments.

(1) Why does the minister allow WALGA to provide common-use services and receive a commission when common-use contracts might be better provided by the Department of Finance?

(2) Considering the financial pressure on ratepayers, why is the state government allowing local governments to opt to pay for a service from WALGA that could be better provided at little or no cost by the existing institutions of the state?

(3) Does the minister support this blatant rent-seeking by WALGA at the expense of the ratepayers?

Hon SUE ELLERY replied:

I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question.

(1)–(3) The Local Government Act 1995 establishes local governments as independent bodies with the legislative authority to make decisions believed to be in the best interests of the local government's community, including ratepayers. WALGA's services are one option available for local governments. The Local Government Act 1995 is also currently under review and procurement is included in the review. Submissions are due by 31 March 2019.