The City of South Perth, City of Subiaco, Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale and Ian Ker joined lawyer John Hammond, and have lodged an application for a judicial review of aspects of the Local Government Act process.
City of South Perth Mayor Sue Doherty understood the community could be confused by the council’s decision. But she said it had always been clear that the City supported reform on the basis that it was voluntary, that the Town of Victoria Park and City of South Perth stayed intact, and it was appropriately funded by the State Government.
‘Recent announcements by the State Government have indicated it has no intention of properly funding its reform program,’ she said. ‘This is in addition to the State Government proposing to force amalgamations through local government boundary adjustments, as well as removing Crown Casino and the stadium from the new local government entity of the Town and City.’
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READ NOWMrs Doherty said the decision to join legal action came after many months of ongoing frustration with the reform process.
‘The council believes enough is enough and will no longer tolerate the State Government’s broken promises,’ she said.
Mr Simpson believed the Local Government Act had been followed as required. ‘I would also like to ensure, as far as possible, that the Local Government Advisory Board be able to continue with its current deliberations in accordance with the Act,’ he said.
‘The board is completely independent and I have no input into their deliberations ” and at this stage, I do not know what their recommendations will be.’
Mr Ker said the legal action was a ‘matter of principle’.
‘They are really bending the law and have never been upfront about their objectives,’ he said. ‘They are looking at costs after the LGAB has made its decision which is totally back to front.’