$12 million to corrupt NSW democracy

The latest City of Sydney council report on business voting identifies the $12 million cost of setting up a business roll for the 2016 council elections. It notes the integrity risks, as the system can be rorted by vested interests, dilutes citizens’ votes and allows the council to manage the electoral roll, not the independent electoral commissioner.

The City of Sydney Amendment (Elections) Act 2014 commenced on 6 February 2015 and imposes obligations on the City’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to create and maintain a register and rolls of eligible non-residential voters.

Councillors were briefed on the City’s new legislative obligations on 4 May 2015. At the briefing, the CEO undertook to provide a methodology and plan to deliver the non- residential register and rolls to Council to endorse.

Following the May briefing, detailed work has been undertaken to analyse and document all aspects of the non-residential register and rolls requirements. These have been summarised in the Business Requirements at Attachment A. The Business Requirements were then used to develop the proposed Methodology and Program Plan at Attachment B.

The City has identified several issues with the legislation as currently drafted. A number of these render it impossible for the City to meet its obligations. Most notable is the requirement for continual and absolute accuracy which is practically impossible given the frequency and scale of changes to land interests in the Local Government Area.

On 12 June 2015, the City wrote to the Office of Local Government outlining the issues with the legislation. The Lord Mayor also wrote to the Minister for Local Government about the issues on 15 June 2015. Councillors were provided with copies of this correspondence on 3 July 2015.

There is potential for changes to be made to the legislation that may resolve some of the issues. However, given the timeframes until the 2016 Local Government election, the City must finalise and commence implementing a plan to deliver the non-residential register and rolls based on the legislation as it currently stands.

Accordingly, Council endorsement of the proposed Methodology and Program Plan, noting the cost estimate to deliver the program outlined at Attachment D, is being sought. The estimated cost of the program for the 2015 – 2017 period is $12 million, being $7,832,000 for 2015/16 and $4,212,000 for 2016/17. The costs have been independently reviewed by PricewaterhouseCoopers, and a copy of the findings is at Attachment C.

The CEO has also reviewed the City’s Code of Conduct, as resolved by Council at its 23 February 2015 meeting. This review has concluded that any attempt by a Council Official to unduly influence or interfere with the non-residential register and rolls would amount to a breach of the Code and, therefore, no changes to the Code are required at this time.