Hello, I’m David Michael, the Minister for Local Government.
The State Government is introducing the most significant changes to
Western Australia’s local government sector in more than 25 years.
These very important reforms will strengthen local democracy,
increase transparency and accountability, and support more Western Australians to become
involved in their local government. There will be changes to the way
people vote in the upcoming local government elections in October,
with the current ‘first-past-the-post’ system replaced with Optional Preferential Voting.
This brings local council elections more in line with State and Federal elections.
Optional Preferential Voting gives voters a greater say, by allowing them to choose
their preference for who represents them. Ratepayers in larger councils will also be able
to vote directly for the important position of Mayor or President.
And council representation will be made fairer, by aligning the size
of each council with the population of the local government district it serves.
My ask is simple – vote in the upcoming local government election.
This election, you can vote with preferences for as many or as few candidates you want.
And if you are considering serving your community, please nominate as a candidate.
I ran for election and served on my local council because I wanted to get things done
for the people in my local community. You will find details of all the government’s
reforms on the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries’ website.