A proposal to make council election voting compulsory has surprised the majority of Northern Tasmanian mayors, who have been blindsided without consultation by the state government reforms proposed by the Local Government Minister.
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Reaction to the proposal from Northern Tasmanian mayors has been mixed, with some saying that it will increase engagement for voters at a local government level, but others concerned about the lack of consultation and the motivations behind it.
Local Government Minister Nic Street announced the proposal to make council election voting compulsory on Monday afternoon, and all mayors contacted said they were either unaware of it entirely, or aware that it was a possible proposal.
City of Launceston mayor Albert van Zetten said councillors had last considered the issue of compulsory voting in 2010.
He said at that time they were "generally supportive" however the new reforms proposed by the Minister had come as a bit of a surprise, and as such they were unable to comment further.
"However, the council's current elected members have not had an opportunity to consider the proposed changes outlined by the state government."
City of Launceston, George Town, Dorset, Break O'Day and Flinders councils all said they were not contacted by the state government regarding the reforms.
Other Northern Tasmanian councils such as Glamorgan Spring Bay, Northern Midlands and Meander Valley Council did not return a request for comment within deadline.
West Tamar mayor Christina Holmdahl, was the first to issue a statement on Monday, in her role as the Local Government Association of Tasmania president.
"We have not recently considered the issue of compulsory voting in local government elections, and while the proposal may increase participation in local democracy; this change comes with some risks and importantly councils have not had sufficient time to consider the implications of such significant change," she said.
"With lower voter participation in local government elections, it will be important for effective promotion of any changes being made if it is to come into effect before the October elections," she said.
"We hope this move will encourage greater community involvement by raising the profile of local government."
The sector supports the proposed changes to simplify the ballot papers to only require marking 1 to 5 preferences.
"This is something local government has been advocating for and will go a long way to reducing the number of informal votes.
"We look forward to working with the government to encourage people from diverse backgrounds, genders, abilities and ages to represent their community in the upcoming local government elections."
Data from the Australian Electoral Commission shows that in the 2018 local government elections there were 356,810 enrolled voters, but only over half of those actually voted.
The data showed there was a 58.7 per cent participation rate for the local government elections.
Local government election votes are cast via postal vote, something that some mayors would like to see changed, if the proposal to make council voting mandatory is enacted.
George Town mayor Greg Kieser, who also recently stood as a Liberal candidate for last year's state election, said if the government were going to make it mandatory, the vote should be cast using the same mechanisms in place as other votes.
"If you are mandating voting you need to have the same mechanisms in place for the state and federal [polls]," he said.
Mr Kieser said while he was "certainly aware" that a proposal for mandatory voting was being discussed, George Town Council hadn't been consulted and they weren't aware the proposal was about to be released.
"Local government is increasingly becoming involved in a broader array of issues. The days of it only being rates, roads and rubbish have well and truly sailed," he said.
Mr Kieser said he could understand the proposal and could support a motion that would help to increase vote participation and engagement with the community on the elections.
This is not the first time the state government has flagged mandatory local government elections. In 2013, then-deputy Premier Bryan Green announced similar reforms.
At the time he flagged all-in, all out elections, along with compulsory postal voting and an end to dual representation. However, it did not pass the Legislative Council.
In 2015, Hobart City Council also put compulsory voting up as a motion at the Local Government Association of Tasmania conference, but it was voted down, with 21 against and only eight votes for the motion.
Dorset Council mayor Greg Howard is one of those against the proposal, saying he can't see the benefits.
"In council elections, you have some younger people [living in the municipality] who don't pay rates, and they don't have any skin in the game," he said.
"So what you will see happen is, if you mandate it, people will end up voting for councillors they don't even know."
Mr Howard said he was surprised the proposal had been announced, because, he, like other mayors, didn't know it was coming.
"Surprised was our initial reaction," he said.
He said he would seek consultation with his local state politicians to discuss the motivations behind the proposal, because he hadn't yet met with the Minister Nic Street.
Mr Howard said in many council areas, particularly city ones, residents didn't have much interaction with the council, so it didn't stand to reason that mandated voting would do anything to what happens at the council table.
He said if engaged people were the ones who voted, then they knew what representation they were getting.
However, if it was mandated, anything could happen.
Dorset Council, he said, has a pretty good vote rate, with around 70 per cent participation, which he said seemed indicative of smaller communities.
That sentiment was echoed by Flinders Council mayor Annie Revie, who said the smaller island community stood apart.
"It really isn't going to affect us that much, because we have about 80 per cent participation rate anyway," she said.
"I think because we are such a small community, everyone knows each other...the people here know each other and know that if they don't vote the people they want won't get in."
Break O'Day Council said they did not have a stance on compulsory voting, but were concerned about the lack of consultation on the proposal.
"Our concerns at the moment regard a lack of consultation with Local Government which means that at this stage we are yet to fully understand what the intent of this legislation would mean for our communities and representatives," Mayor Mick Tucker said.
Minister Street, in a statement on Tuesday defended the timeline of the proposal.
"This issue has been well-canvassed over many years, and the legislation timeline is necessary to enable time to design and implement an appropriate information campaign to inform the public of the new requirements for this year's elections, if passed," he said.
Mr Street, who is a former Kingborough councillor, said he hoped the reform would be in place before the next local government elections, due this year.
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Caitlin Jarvis
I have worked in the Tasmanian digital/print media for 11 years, spanning two newsrooms. I have developed a keen interest in agricultural, development and education news, as well as issues-based long-form journalism. Contact me at caitlin.jarvis@examiner.com.au
I have worked in the Tasmanian digital/print media for 11 years, spanning two newsrooms. I have developed a keen interest in agricultural, development and education news, as well as issues-based long-form journalism. Contact me at caitlin.jarvis@examiner.com.au
