Restoring Faith in Our Local Councils Through Smarter Oversight

A prescription for better governance

In my years as a GP, I never saw a patient cured by red tape. I have seen the damage that comes from uncertainty and the erosion of trust. This is the state of play for our local government sector today. When the system becomes a labyrinth of compliance rather than a service for our residents, the risk is not just administrative. It is a visceral, day-to-day danger to the health of our communities. If local councils fail to deliver, the families and business owners in our regions feel the immediate weight of that collapse.

The reality of the numbers

We recently learned through budget estimates that the new Local Government Inspector received 251 complaints in just five months. This is double the volume of the previous regime. We must ask ourselves if this reflects a system finally shining a light on buried problems, or if we are inadvertently creating a punitive, top-down culture that punishes hard-working councillors. When local government works, it is the purest form of democracy. It is where decisions are made by people who actually live on the streets they repair. If we crush that with excessive bureaucracy, we lose the heart of local representation.

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An active role for Parliament

The solution is not to step back and let the executive arm of government manage this in isolation. It is to step up through consistent, transparent parliamentary oversight. My motion encourages the Standing Committee on Public Administration to include the Local Government Inspector in its regular consultations. This is not about hunting for faults. It is about ensuring that the new framework actually delivers better outcomes for ratepayers rather than just generating more paperwork. We need to be clear-eyed about the risk of responsibility creep. Too often, the state shifts its duties onto local government without the funding to match. That is a recipe for failure, and it is a burden that our regional councils simply cannot sustain.

We must champion a culture of high trust. This means creating forums where issues are aired in the open, where due process is respected, and where our local leaders are supported rather than discarded. By involving the Parliament, we ensure that the inspector is accountable, the system is fair, and our communities remain the priority. You can read the full transcript of the debate here. If you believe in evidence-based policy and want to see a more transparent, functional approach to governing our state, I invite you to join Legalise Cannabis WA and help us drive the change our state deserves.