Population growth could lead to Melton residents being under-represented by their council, according to a review.
A discussion paper released last week as part of a local government electoral review highlighted existing and potential issues across the state.
A review panel was appointed by Local Government Minister Jeanette Powell in August to ensure councils continued to be accountable to their communities.
The paper found that election races featuring many candidates, particularly in growth areas, could be an indication that ‘‘dummy’’ candidates were being used. Last year, Melton had the second-highest number of candidates in the state (72), behind Casey (85).
The paper said big numbers of candidates could lead to community confusion and higher rates of informal voting. It also found fast-growing municipalities such as Melton could miss out on adequate councillor representation.
Melton council has seven councillors to represent a population of 122,783. Population projections indicate the city’s population will be more than 241,000 by 2031.
Acting mayor Bob Turner said councillors might have to start working full-time hours to meet the demands of a growing population.
But he said putting restrictions on how many candidates could run in a election would be problematic.
“I do feel that it may be the case that the position of councillor would need to be committed to on a full-time basis to get full benefit from all our representatives,” he said. “I agree the number of candidates was excessive at the last election. But if we limit the number of candidates we will only discourage the genuine people who wish to help more in their community.”
Review chairman Petro Georgiou said the panel was keen to hear from a “broad cross-section” of the community on how the electoral system could be improved.
Submissions close on November 5.
» www.localgovernment.vic.gov.au
