George Town Council’s Review of Tasmania’s Local Government Legislative Framework

Councillors addressed the Review of Tasmania’s Local Government Legislative Framework by Local Government Division at the George Town Council meeting held on Tuesday the 24^th September. 

 There were two proposed reforms that were unanimously opposed by Councillors.  Proposed Reform Item No: 47: Introduce provisions that support efficient and high-quality council operations and collaborative shared service opportunities.  The General Manager, Shane Power reported that this appeared to be more discussion around Council amalgamations of the administrational function of councils whilst preserving existing governance arrangements, which was not to form part of the review.  

And Proposed Reform Item No: 48: Introduce the option to create Regional Councils.  Thiswas interpreted by Councillors as the introduction of another tier of government, and is contradictory to the intent of the proposed reforms.  “The reforms were to provide flexible, innovative and future-focused legislative framework for representative and democratic councils that are connected to their communities” responded the General Manager. 

 George Town Council encourages the community to submit its views on the Local Government Reform by writing to the Department of Premier and Cabinet.

Please refer to this link for the full discussion papers