Plebiscite rejects District Council of Grant and City of Mt Gambier merger

South-East residents have overwhelmingly rejected a state government bid to merge two councils, voting 70 per cent against the move.

Mt Gambier Council chambers on Commercial Street. Both Mt Gambier and Grant council residents have voted against a merger. Picture Campbell Brodie.

A state government proposal to examine a possible amalgamation of two South-East councils has been overwhelming rejected.

Voters in the Mt Gambier City Council and Grant District Council local government elections were asked whether they supported a merger of the two councils.

They responded by voting 70 per cent against the move, with 2913 ratepayers out of 3201 in Grant voting ‘no’ while in Mt Gambier it was 4041 out of 6744.

Premier Peter Malinauskas announced the plebiscite soon after the state election to explore public appetite in council mergers across the state.

Acting Local Government Minister Clare Scriven said the outcome had shown there was no community interest Grant and Mount Gambier becoming one council.

“With 70 per cent of returned votes marked ‘no’, the plebiscite’’ outcome means voters do not support the examination of an amalgamation,” she said.

“Accordingly, no further action will be taken by the state government.”

Ms Scriven said the government had been “clear from the outset that the total vote would determine whether a proposal to amalgamate the two councils would be examined”.

“We said we would act in good faith, based on the majority view and we have listened,” she said.

“I thank all the residents who submitted their vote over the past few weeks.”

Ms Scriven said the outcome meant the proposal would not be referred by the government to the SA Local Government Boundaries Commission.

Opposition leader David Speirs said it was “an embarrassing result” for Mr Malinauskas.

“It just shows how city-centric and out of touch with regional South Australia the Labor Party is,” he said.

“Peter Malinauskas has treated the South East like a FIFO destination.

“This is the result you get when you rush flawed legislation through Parliament without doing proper consultation.”
Mr Speirs said the inclusion of the plebiscite in the council election “amounted to a huge waste of time and money”.