Property Council says Adelaide businesses should get two votes at city council elections

BUSINESS would be given double the say at Adelaide City Council elections under an agenda spruiked by the state’s property lobby group.

Some council members say doubling the business votes could be a way of justifying an imbalance between the share of rates revenue paid by businesses and residents. Picture: Bernard Humphreys

BUSINESSES should be allowed an extra vote in Adelaide City Council elections, bringing them in line with counterparts in Sydney and Melbourne, the Property of Council of Australia says.

And the call has been backed by some council members, who say it could be a way of justifying an imbalance between the share of rates revenue paid by businesses and residents. Property Council SA executive director Daniel Gannon said the Adelaide City Council area had a small number of residents – less than 24,000 and 5200 businesses – and should look to emulate Melbourne and Sydney, which provide greater weight for business interests at the polls.

“South Australian business owners take risks every day by investing and growing their companies,” Mr Gannon said.

“While they currently get a say as a business owner, the question remains whether their say is weighted correctly.

“There has been recent positive momentum to target and attract hi-tech companies, like Google, to Adelaide on the back of South Australia’s housing affordability and the City of Adelaide’s 10 Gigabit Adelaide initiative.

“If we want to reposition Adelaide as a city that is open for business, then we need to enhance our reputation as a business-focused jurisdiction.”

Property Council SA executive director Daniel Gannon. Picture: Stephen Laffer

Adelaide Lord Mayor Martin Haese. Picture: AAP / Keryn Stevens

In Melbourne, businesses make up 60 per cent of the city roll.

However, at the 2014 Adelaide City Council election, 2000 of the 8649 votes cast in came from the business community. This is despite the business sector contributing nearly $80 million in rates to the council a year, compared to residents’ $21 million.

Adelaide Central Ward Cr Houssam Abiad said there needed to be an improved coexistence between the two. “Both should be represented equally ... but we need more businesses engaged; they need to have a say in what happens in the city,” he said.

“It should happen through compulsory elections or, if we can’t get them to vote, then we should look at giving businesses dependent on their size an extra vote.”

Voting in council elections is not compulsory.

At a recent council, Cr Natasha Malani asked for an update on how efforts were going to get businesses on the electoral role this year. Giving businesses an extra vote could be something worth investigating, she said.

“It would be interesting to explore considering such a high percentage of our rates come from the commercial sector,” she said.

Adelaide Lord Mayor Martin Haese said it wouldn’t happen ahead of the November election but “we must recognise that commercial ratepayers deliver 78 per cent of the council’s rate revenue”.