Final call on council election delay
Parliament has made the final call on council elections after a plea from SA’s election boss for a delay.
Polling day for local government elections will be delayed until April 2027 rather than going ahead in November, after urgent legislation was passed in SA parliament today.
The bill passed SA’s upper house with 10 members in favour of the delay and seven against.
It comes after urgent legislation was introduced to parliament last week to delay council elections by six months, and passed the lower house on June 16.
Acting South Australian Electoral Commissioner Leah McLay asked for the delay earlier this month to prevent a repeat of the state election’s troubles, which are currently under review.
The legislation would delay polling day until April 7, 2027, instead of November 11, 2026, and would, from then on, keep council elections in an alternative year to state elections – a request the Electoral Commission has been calling for since 2006.
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The Greens “reluctantly” supported the bill, Leader Rob Simms told the parliament, while Liberal and One Nation members voted against it.
Liberal shadow treasurer Ben Hood told the parliament it was a risk that this legislation was “merely kicking the can down the road”.
Hood said another concern was “the practical consequence of the proposed timing” because April is in the middle of the council budget preparations.
One Nation’s Carlos Quaremba said he would not “reward incompetence”.
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“Local government elections happen every four years, unbeknownst and unsurprising for everybody else. Why is it that they can’t get their act together,” he said.
While One Nation leader Cory Bernardi said there could be an “ulterior motive for starving the Electoral Commission of its ability to conduct an election”.
“They want to give themselves another six months, another 12 months of this petty politics to resist the orange wave. ”
Deputy Premier Kyam Maher said there was precedent in Australia for the move, including the City of Adelaide 2006 elections being delayed.
Labor member Mira El Dannawi said it was a “reasonable response to ensure local government continues to function”.
“We understand it is a significant thing to ask South Australians to accept the delay in the exercise of their democratic rights, and for existing councils to serve a further five months,” she said.
“But council elections are an extensive logistical complex exercise with over 600 positions up for election across 67 councils, and the last thing we would want to see is a repeat of the issues that have been raised in the management of the state election.”
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