Clarence councillor Tony Mulder rejects colleagues bid on elector polls as ‘undemocratic’

One Clarence councillor’s hopes for a change to elector poll rules has caused a stoush with a fellow council colleague. POLL INSIDE >>

Clarence councillor Daniel Hulme. Picture: Chris Kidd

UPDATE: A Tasmanian councillor’s move to change the rules around elector polls has been branded “sour grapes” and “undemocratic” by a colleague.

Clarence councillor Daniel Hulme will move at Monday night’s council meeting that council consider public meetings and elector polls should only be initiated by a simple majority vote of a council or that the number of electors needed to sign a petition for an elector poll be significantly increased.

Tony Mulder said he agreed with Mr Hulme’s view that “reform is needed” and that the costs of election polls were worrying.

“But it is political stupidity to get rid of elector polls altogether,” he said.

“The cost is a genuine issue but there is still a need for elector polls.

“It’s just sour grapes to abolish citizen-initiated polls and public meetings.

“In the wake of the elector poll on the AFL High Performance Centre in Rosny Cr Hulme would be better focused on listening to the voters instead of trying to abolish or make it harder for citizens to have their say.

“As the coordinator of the ‘yes’ campaign Cr Hulme is too invested in the issue and is the last councillor to be making such an undemocratic move.”

Clarence councillor Tony Mulder. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE.

Mr Mulder said the debate on elector polls should be one for the Local Government Association of Tasmania.

“He raises some legitimate points about the need for a greater threshold for a meeting and elector poll but it needs to be nuanced,” he said.

“Elector polls should be at no cost and held during elections if possible.

“Citizen initiated referendum polls and referenda should be extended to state and federal governments because it is a conflict of interest for those who govern to be changing the rules.

“Just because you don’t like the result democracy gives you, isn’t a reason to change the rules.”

Mr Hulme says he was contacted after last year’s elector poll on the AFL high performance by ratepayers concerned it was a “wasteful” exercise and they did not want their rates being used to pay for it.

He stressed it was not about “re-prosecuting the AFL High Performance Centre debate – that is behind us”.

Proposed site of the AFL High Performance Centre at the old Rosny Golf Course site. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Clarence residents were split on the proposal with the Kingborough Council later successful in its bid for the centre.

The poll cost $145,000 and about 63 per cent of electors enrolled in Clarence – 28,476 of 45,351 people – returned a ballot.

The Local Government Act requires a council to hold a public meeting if requested by a petition which is signed by the lesser of 5 per cent of electors in the municipal area or 1,000 of those electors.

Mr Hulme said that currently the 1000 elector threshold represented just 2.2 per cent of Clarence electors, or one in 45.

The result of elector polls, which can cost up to $200,000, is not binding on council.

Clarence councillor Daniel Hulme. Picture: Chris Kidd

PREVIOUSLY: A Tasmanian councillor wants changes to the rules around elector polls saying some ratepayers believe they are “wasteful” and do not want their rates paying for them.

At Monday night’s Clarence City Council meeting Daniel Hulme will move that the council consider that a public meeting or elector poll can only be initiated by a simple majority vote of a council or that the number of electors needed to sign a petition for an elector poll be significantly increased.

Mr Hulme said that currently the 1000 elector threshold represented just 2.2 per cent of Clarence electors, or one in 45.

“This means one elector can impose the cost of a public meeting or elector poll on another 44 electors without their consent, he said.

“During the recent elector poll in Clarence on the High Performance Centre several residents contacted me to say they thought the poll was a wasteful exercise and they didn’t want their rates paying for it.

“To be clear, this is not about re-prosecuting the High Performance Centre debate – that is behind us.

“But I think the concern about a small minority of residents imposing the cost of an elector poll on others who don’t want one is widely shared throughout Tasmania.”

Proposed site of the AFL High Performance Centre at the old Rosny Golf Course site. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Mr Hulme said the public meeting on the AFL High Performance Centre cost council about $20,000 and the elector poll $145,000 as well as hidden costs including council staff time.

“Elector polls are a blunt instrument,” he said.

“They can only answer yes/no questions and that limits the usefulness of the information they provide.

“The funds that councils are forced to spend on elector polls could be better spent on a more considered approach to community engagement.

“Clarence City Council, and the rest of the local government sector in Tasmania, needs to send a message to the Tasmanian government that these legislative provisions are unfair.”

The Local Government Act requires a council to hold a public meeting if requested by a petition which is signed by the lesser of 5 per cent of electors in the municipal area or 1,000 of those electors.

Mr Hulme said public meetings and elector polls were “useful avenues for residents and ratepayers to have their voices heard on important issues”.

“However, given the high cost of these feedback mechanisms, they should be reserved for the most important issues.

“As such, the thresholds for requiring them should be set high, particularly considering the costs are borne by all ratepayers and not just those who sought the meeting or poll.”

Glenorchy War Memorial Pool. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

As well as the Clarence elector poll, an elector poll was held last year on the Glenorchy Pool and a Hobart elector poll is likely this year on bike lanes in Collins St.

Mr Hulme said the government committed in 2020 to increasing the threshold to trigger an elector poll to 20 per cent but had not made any legislative changes.