RURAL Councils Victoria chairman Rob Gersch believes a state government plan to tighten councillor conduct standards is unfair on small councils.
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Mr Gersch said a new bill to change standards would punish small councils for the actions of their urban counterparts.
The proposed bill will clarify expectations of councillors, provide tougher standards against councillors who do the wrong thing, and ensure councils have the ability to respond to misbehaviour early.
If the bill passes, it will update the current councillor conduct framework in the Local Government Act.
Reforms in the bill include a requirement for councillors to agree to codes of conduct before taking office, councils establishing procedures to deal with alleged breaches, and appointing a conduct panel that can suspend a councillor for six months for serious misconduct.
Councillor discretionary funds, also known as ward funds, will also be outlawed.
Mr Gersch said rural councillors were generally very well behaved.
“I’m not saying we don’t have the odd bad egg,” he said.
“But it is a rarity in rural local government. Predominantly all the problems are in the urban areas.”
Mr Gersch said he thought the bill was a punishment for local government as a whole.
“Individuals outside the code of conduct should be penalised, not the whole sector,” he said.
Mr Gersch acknowledged councillors did have to be held accountable for their actions.
“If there are misdemeanours or if someone is not doing the right thing, there has to be some regulations,” he said.
“There has to be rules.
“There has to be a code of conduct for councillors to be accountable and councils to be transparent.”
Yarriambiack Mayor Andrew McLean said there was no need to add tougher standards to councils through changes to the act.
He said he had not had any experience with councillors misbehaving.
“It’s not a problem with us,” he said. Cr McLean said a change to the Local Government Act was unnecessary.
“It should be dealt with in-house for a start,” he said.
“I’d prefer the state government giving us money for doing the right thing, rather than wielding the big stick for doing the wrong thing.”
The bill will be presented to parliament next month.