General News
8 February, 2023
Ratepayers plead for open media policies
Stress is mounting across the Wimmera as ratepayers feel they are being left in the dark on many local government council decisions. With the new Local Government Act 2020 set to be fully enforced by October 2024, councils have the option to...
Stress is mounting across the Wimmera as ratepayers feel they are being left in the dark on many local government council decisions.
With the new Local Government Act 2020 set to be fully enforced by October 2024, councils have the option to create their own media policies, opening the door for them to restrict the information media outlets can access and then share with the public.
Horsham Community Matters co-chair Terry O’Donnell said correspondence produced by council appeared to be “controlled” and “highly politicised”.
“More questions are being answered in a designed, concise way rather than something open and honest. It’s all constructed,” Mr O’Donnell said.
Media outlets have the freedom to ask any question, however, within councils, councillors often refuse to answer, as do staff, as they are not permitted to comment under their respective media policies.
Most responses come from the chief executive, mayor or relevant media and communications officer under the tag “council spokesperson”.
“The (council spokesperson tag) makes it harder to fact check because it creates a channel of information and you don’t know where the information actually came from,” Mr O’Donnell said.
“If ratepayers are trying to talk to councillors or even staff, now we’re being directed not to speak to them.
“At Community Matters, we constantly say to people ‘Seek out your councillors as your elected officials who, by their job description, have to interact with the community’, but that’s at odds with the new media policies.”
Community Matters is a subgroup of Ratepayers Victoria and aims to support the community with all council- and rates-related matters.
Mr O’Donnell said that as both media and the public were only “allowed” to speak to or contact the chief executive or mayor, communities were held back from understanding the entirety of what went on in council: what ratepayers were paying for.
“When the Local Government Act 2020 came out, I thought it was a breath of fresh air, finally a chance to have work done by councils being (examined) from the ground up with community meetings,” he said.
“Now, they don’t.
“Instead, they have a process where a contractor comes in (and) has a brief discussion with the community to tell them what the council feels they should be wanting.
“That’s not what ‘for the people’ is about; it’s ‘control the people’.”
Buloke Shire
Buloke Shire does not have a formal media policy but refers all media questions to the mayor, except when they are delegated to councillors or relevant directors who may know more about the topic at hand.
Buloke Shire community development director Travis Fitzgibbon said despite there being no formal policy, the Councillor Code of Conduct stated that the mayor was the principal spokesperson for council.
“This ensures that the correct information is provided to the media and by extension the community through an approval process,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.
“Buloke Shire Council first employed an officer to handle media and communications in 2015.
“Since that time, council has enjoyed a strong relationship with local media and is considered a sector leader for its external communications, with staff often invited to speak on our approach to engaging in a small rural context.”
Mr Fitzgibbon replied within one hour to our media request for comment on this matter.
Yarriambiack Shire
Conversely, all media requests for Yarriambiack Shire must be directed to chief executive Tammy Smith.
Ms Smith said the council’s media and communications policy stated that council would endeavour to respond to media enquiries within a respectful deadline and reply within 48 hours.
“Our council recognises that the media is a key part of council’s operations and an important source of information for our community,” she said.
“The media also plays a significant role to assist council as the community leader and advocate to get our message out there; therefore, we value our relationship with media outlets and journalists.
“Most journalists would have the CEO’s and the mayor’s (Cr Kylie Zanker’s) direct numbers, and we are happy to take calls and discuss matters as they arise.”
Ms Smith replied 20 hours after our media request was sent.
Hindmarsh Shire
The media policy of Hindmarsh Shire outlines that the chief executive and mayor are the two official spokespeople on all matters of council policy.
Only councillors, not council staff, are able to be delegated to comment where appropriate.
“Council encourages journalists and media organisations to make their queries in writing to the executive assistant (EA), who will then liaise with the appropriate officers to provide a response,” chief executive Greg Wood said.
“Verbal questions should not be directed to any councillor or staff member who is not the CEO, mayor or EA.
“This is to ensure that all responses to media are coherent, professional and accurate.”
Mr Wood replied 24 hours after our media request was sent.
West Wimmera Shire
West Wimmera Shire’s media relations policy states that the mayor and chief executive are the official spokespeople for council.
According to the policy, councillors “have the right to express personal opinions on any issue, but must make it clear that they are speaking for themselves and not on behalf of council, unless they are supporting a council position”.
It also states that all media requests are to be dealt with as soon as is practicable.
Despite this, Wimmera Mallee News did not receive either a response or an acknowledgement of our media request.
Unfortunately, there is no liberty for media personnel or journalists to contact councillors, the mayor or the chief executive independently as all enquiries must be submitted through a form on the West Wimmera Shire Council website.
Horsham Rural City Council
Council’s authorised spokespeople are the mayor, the chief executive, the directors and the media and communications officer.
This appears to be far more lenient than other media policies in the Wimmera.
Although there are delegated spokespeople, the policy does not prevent councillors or staff commenting to the media.
HRCC did not respond to our media request.
Northern Grampians Shire
There is no media policy published to the Northern Grampians Shire website but the councillor code of conduct alludes to the existence of such a document.
It is stated that councillors acknowledge the media and communications policy and agree to its parameters.
Elsewhere in the code of conduct, it is stated that the mayor is the principal spokesperson for council.