Party disclosure in election Q&A
PARTY political affiliations are set to be disclosed for the first time at Geelong’s municipal election in a move that will set a statewide precedent.
Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins announced the October election would be a trailblazing ballot when it comes to candidate disclosure with contenders asked to fill out a questionnaire for public consumption.
Ms Hutchins said the new measures would enable greater clarity about a candidate’s background “including giving details of any training undertaken to prepare themselves for the councillor role, or any political party endorsement they might have”.
Council candidates can choose to fill out the questionnaire at their discretion, however, if they elect to forego an individual question or entire questionnaire, it will be noted on the Victorian Electoral Commission website.
“Through the citizens’ jury we listened to the people of Geelong and redesigned our candidate questionnaire to help them make decisions when voting,” Ms Hutchins said.
“Geelong will be able to lead the way and help improve local government across Victoria.
“If the new questions help the voters make a decision, I will look at applying them across the state.”
Ms Hutchins said the changes also increased the length of the candidate’s statement in postal ballot packs, from 150 words to 200.
The candidate questionnaire, which was used at the 2016 council elections for the first time, has been expanded to include additional questions following the recommendation of the Geelong Citizens’ Jury final report.
The City of Greater Geelong did not participate in the statewide municipal ballots due to being in administration.
Both Labor and the Coalition have used Geelong’s council chambers as a training ground for potential state and federal candidates.
Labor councillors and mayors in the past few decades include John Mitchell, Andy Richards and Michael Crutchfield, while Liberal councillors and mayors include Darryn Lyons, Stretch Kontelj and Ron Nelson.
The announcement comes only days after the State Government confirmed it would hire two monitors to supervise City Hall once the council elections were finalised.
The state Coalition criticised the appointments as unnecessary, given monitors were only used in the past at councils that had a track record of mismanagement.