Changes to how campaign donation returns are lodged were at the request of SA’s councils, Local Government Minister Geoff Brock has revealed.

The changes were considered a factor in the campaign donation return saga which saw 45 elected members, including four mayors, throughout the State lose their positions after failing to lodge their documents on time.

Naracoorte Lucindale Council’s Craig McGuire was one of the 45.

“The Local Government (Elections) Act 1999 was amended by the previous Government in 2021 to require all candidates in (council) elections to lodge their campaign donation returns with the Electoral Commissioner, rather than with the CEO of the relevant council, as had been the case previously,” Mr Brock said.

“This change was made at the request of the local government sector and advocated for by the Local Government Association (LGA).”

At the time LGA president was City of Charles Sturt mayor Angela Evans, immediate past president was mayor Sam Telfer – now the shadow Local Government minister.

Other decision makers on the LGA board included mayors David O’Loughlin, Erika Vickery, Gillian Aldridge, Peter Mattey, Erin Thompson, Keith Parkes, Claire Boan and Clare McLaughlin.

Making the decision on behalf of the State’s councils, they were the civic leaders of Prospect, Naracoorte Lucindale, Salisbury, Goyder, Onkaparinga, Alexandrina, Port Adelaide Enfield and Whyalla.

Mr Brock told Parliament that the changes “made it quite clear that the Electoral Commission was to handle the elections completely in isolation and away from the Local Government Association and also this Parliament.

“It was made quite clear by the previous Parliament that they wanted the Electoral Commission and the elections to be independent of all of the opportunities of both the LGA and also this Parliament.

“If I might say, that precludes anyone from anywhere getting involved with it. Also, as part of the decision of the Local Government sector at that particular time, the Member for Flinders was the (former) president of the LGA who facilitated that with the previous Government.”

Regarding the Act, Mr Brock told The News that other requirements remained unchanged.

That included the time frame for the provision of the return – within 30 days of the conclusion of the election.

Also unchanged was the “consequence” in the Local Government Act 1999 that a member’s position “would become vacant if a return is not lodged within a month of this required lodgement date”.

Mr Brock said it was “deeply disappointing that so many members of councils and the councils themselves are at this juncture.

“I look forward to receiving the Electoral Commissioner’s review of the local government elections in addition to the concurrent review being undertaken by the Office of Local Government and the Local Government Association.”

Mr Brock last week introduced changes to the Act in a Bill which is currently before Parliament.

If it passes both houses Mr Brock hopes it will prevent by-elections in up to 36 councils costing each of their ratepayers between $10,000 to $20,000 for smaller councils to $40,000 for larger ones.

A spokesman for the Electoral Commission highlighted that despite the changes, most of the 1200 candidates had lodged their campaign donation returns on time.

Current LGASA president mayor Dean Johnson said the process for disclosing campaign donations was revised by the SA Parliament “as part of significant reforms to local government legislation in 2021, which the LGA and councils participated in.

“Where previously, returns were lodged with council CEOs, changes to legislation mean candidates need to submit campaign return disclosures to the Electoral Commission of SA.

“We’ve received feedback that there have been some frustrations with the new process.

“Because of this, the LGA will work with the State Government and Electoral Commission to understand if there were any shortcomings with the system, and the ways we can avoid this happening in the future.”

Naracoorte Lucindale CEO Trevor Smart said he was not sure of Mr Brock’s statement regarding changes being at the request of the LGA.

But he was aware that it was part of more recent LG Act reforms undertaken by the State Government.

“The LGA would have had (the) opportunity to provide feedback on any legislative changes, but ultimately, the legislation was the State Government’s responsibility,” Mr Smart said.

“In my opinion, it worked better when returns were provided to the council CEO, as we generally had more follow-up with any elected member that hadn’t lodged a return, to prevent what has now occurred across local government.”

This article appeared in the Naracoorte Community News.