By Luke Voogt
The Borough of Queenscliff received a welcome reprieve on Tuesday 16 August after the State Government spared it and 12 other councils from being sacked.
On Monday the Andrews government announced it would disqualify 13 councils on 1 September for failing to properly sign its new Code of Conduct.
However Acting Local Government Minister Richard Wynne on Tuesday announced the government would allow the councils to serve until their next elections.
Queenscliff mayor Helene Cameron said reports the council had been sacked this week were incorrect.
“We were not suspended as what was reported in media,” she said.
“We did not receive any notification that the Borough of Queenscliff Council had been sacked.”
An audit found 13 councils – including the borough – had failed to correctly update the code by the required date of 4 July.
“The councils have admitted themselves to gross incompetence in not meeting this simple requirement,” Mr Wynne said.
“Our ultimate consideration here is ensuring residents don’t have to pay for the administrative mistakes made by their local councils.”
Cr Cameron said Queenscliff Council had inadvertently made a “minor technical breach”.
On 25 July Queenscliff Council held a special meeting and agreed to adopt the code of conduct.
However it failed include a formal declaration, signed by all councillors, saying they would abide by the code.
Once the council had been notified of the breach, Cr Cameron said, they acted to rectify for the mistake.
“At the moment we are still waiting for guidance from the State Government,” she said.
Local Opposition MP Simon Ramsay said the State Government had failed to communicate its requirement to sign the declaration.
“Each councillor needed to sign the declaration as well as the code, so the request should have gone directly to them, instead of the council officers.”
The “mistake” could have left residents without local representation and reflected badly on councillors “who work hard for their communities”, he said
However a statement from the Premier’s office said the government had notified councils of the requirements of the new code multiple times since the end of 2015.
