Proposed legislative changes were introduced into the Queensland Parliament on 1 May 2019.
The Local Government Electoral (Implementing Stage 2 of Belcarra) and other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019 was introduced on 1 May 2019. Some key provisions are:
Conflict of interest
- to constitute a prescribed conflict of interest – gifts or loans to a councillor during a term need to total $2,000.00 or more;
- calculations of gifts and loans to a group of councillors or a political party are to be based on the total gifts and loans divided by the number of candidates
Complaints
- Amendments to the current councillor complaints system to streamline investigations where alleged corrupt or inappropriate conduct of a local government employee is linked to alleged corrupt conduct of a councillor
Caretaker period
- Inclusion of additional decisions into the prohibited category during a caretaker period
Councillors’ Register of Interest
- Introduction of new requirements to align with the requirements which apply to State Members of Parliament
To find out more about these changes, get in touch with Preston Law’s local government team.