ANY councillor who believes they may be disqualified from council because they are no longer an elector of the district (whether as a resident or ratepayer) needs to straight away advise the local government chief executive officer, according to the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC).

Question over councillor’s eligibility goes to SAT (Echo News, May 29) reported Whiteman ward councillor Dave Knight had applied to the State Administration Tribunal after questions about his eligibility to remain on the City of Swan council emerged in April.

The councillor said a (SAT) hearing would be held on June 6 and then on June 10 he told Echo News he had resigned from the council.

Mr Knight said he was lawfully elected and this was not disputed but he was no longer an elector of the district as he had moved.

“But the way the law is written, this does not disqualify me from retaining membership of the council.

“According to that reading, if a councillor is validly elected, they can serve out  their term but cannot stand for re-election.

“Under 2.27 of the Local Government Act (Act) 1995, under the heading Qualifications to retain membership of a council, there is no provision to disqualify a councillor for not being an elector of the district if they were validly elected.

“They can only be disqualified if their election to council was not valid(2.19(1)(b).”

Mr Knight said this was the legal advice given to him and it remained his view.

“If it were otherwise, it would be stated with the other disqualification provisions which are: election to a legislative assembly or another council; convictions; misapplication of funds or property; failure to attend meetings.

“Leaving the district is not included and is hardly an unusual or unforeseeable circumstance.’’

But a DLGSC spokesman said under the Act if a person was no longer an elector of the district (resident or ratepayer) they were ineligible to retain membership of the council of the local government district in which they were no longer an elector.

“Under the Local Government Act (section 2.27), a council member who believes that they may be disqualified from council because they are no longer an elector of the district (whether as a resident or ratepayer) has an obligation to advise the local government CEO in writing, without delay,’’ a spokesman said.

“A CEO then provides written notice indicating the reasons why the council member is disqualified, and the member then has 14 days to respond.

“A council member is also able to apply to SAT asking for a declaration as to whether they are disqualified.

“The local government CEO, or any other person, is also able to make a similar application to the SAT for a declaration as to whether the member is disqualified.”

Mr Knight said the counter argument was that for a councillor to be eligible, they must satisfy all three requirements of 2.19 for the entirety of their term.

“The test for this would be if an election were held today, would they qualify?

“But these words, or a provision to that effect is not written anywhere in the LGA 1995.

“The law is ambiguous and as yet, not been tested in court, so could go either way.

“The legal cost of mounting an argument to SAT is in excess of  $30,000.’’