Naracoorte’s Craig McGuire and 44 other elected members are likely to be reinstated to each of their 36 councils following new laws being rushed through State Parliament.

But they won’t be reinstated until legislation has passed both Houses, then signed by the Governor.

SA Attorney-General Kyam Maher said the Bill introduced to Parliament last week sought to protect ratepayers from possible costly by-elections, “while still ensuring that councillors file their campaign donation returns”.

The new legislation gives candidates an extra 10 days to lodge their forms.

The Electoral Commission SA on February 10 notified Naracoorte Lucindale Council that Mr McGuire had failed to lodge his return.

“This member is no longer a member of council,” the electoral commissioner Mick Sherry said.

Mr Sherry listed 11 steps the commission took to advise candidates, including Mr McGuire, of the requirement to lodge their returns – which included an extra month.

The commission recently told The [Naracoorte Community] News that of 1200 candidates, 45 elected members including four mayors had failed to lodge their returns, affecting 36 different councils.

The breach meant all 45 were disqualified. Such a breach was going to force several by-elections, with ratepayers footing the bill of $10,000 to $20,000 for smaller councils and up to $40,000 for larger ones.

Mr Maher – who grew up in the Limestone Coast – said transparency in the electoral system “is of utmost importance, and all requirements must still be adhered to”.

“This means councillors still need to disclose the donations they received in the election period, but ratepayers will not bear the cost of them failing to do so,” Mr Maher said.

Local Government Minister Geoff Brock said members would be reinstated when amendments to the Local Government Act commenced – once the Local Government (Casual Vacancies) Amendment Bill passed Parliament and “received Royal Assent”.

“The Bill includes a specific clause that ensures that all acts and proceedings of councils during the period over which members were vacant are valid,” Mr Brock said.

“I will also review all aspects of the 2022 periodic council elections, which include considering changes to make sure that this situation is never repeated.”

Mr Brock explained the SA Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT) requirements were for applicants to provide their reasons for failing to lodge their return on time.

“Should elected members have decided to engage legal services to assist them, this is to be self-funded,” Mr Brock said.

“This Bill does not in any way excuse the 45 members who failed to lodge their returns.”

Mr McGuire had one month past the December 20 due date to get his form in.

“In short, in late November early December I tried to get into the portal and was locked out,” Mr McGuire said.

“I rung the council to see if I could get on their computers and to see if I could get the girls to help me. I couldn’t get in on their system so we rang the electoral commission.

“The electoral commission couldn’t get in either and tried to help me. They said they would ring me back.

“By the 16th of December I hadn’t heard from anybody.”

So Mr McGuire rang the commission again, “and a guy rang back and left a voice message”.

“I’ve got phone records of me ringing him back three times and leaving a voice message with him,” Cr McGuire said.

“Then nobody got back to me and it wasn’t until six weeks later (on January 28th) I received a phone call asking why I hadn’t put my form in.”

Mr McGuire said he explained what had happened “and they said that’s fine, we’ll send you out a copy of the paperwork, just print it off rather than go through it electronically and send it back to us”.

“But of course, when they rang me on the 28th, it was already eight days past January 20,” Mr McGuire said.

He said he had a nil return and “never received anything in the 17 years I have been on council”.

Mr McGuire praised mayor Patrick Ross and SA Local Government Association president Dean Johnson for their support.

“Patrick rang me several times to make sure I was all right,” Mr McGuire said.

CEO Trevor Smart said council staff had attempted to help Mr McGuire to access the ECSA Portal.

But at the time “we also (were) unable to access the ECSA portal,” Mr Smart said.

He said the actual date of Mr McGuire’s reinstatement was unknown as legislative changes still needed to be approved, then signed off by the Governor.

“Council hasn’t incurred any legal costs for this matter. Mr McGuire needs to cover any of his own costs for any advice or an appeal to SACAT,” Mr Smart said.

This article appeared in the Naracoorte Community News.