Page 163 - Enabling National Initiatives to Take Democracy Beyond Elections

RECOMMENDATION: ii Total of 11 councillors, elected from four wards encompassing: • the Bellarine coastal region (3 councillors) • the Northern region (3 councillors) • suburban Geelong (3 councillors) • central Geelong (2 councillors) The citizens jury agreed as a ‘super majority’ on a four ward structure, comprising of 11 councillors in total. We suggest these wards be divided into rough geographical areas, dependent on the electoral population of the areas. The proposed wards would encompass the Bellarine coastal region, the Northern region, suburban Geelong and central Geelong. The preferred distribution of councillors would be three in each ward except for central Geelong, which would have two. GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: SUPPORT. Action: •DRAFT a Bill to implement prior to the October 2017 election of a new Council. Comment: The Government has approved the preparation of a Bill to give effect to this recommendation. The jury’s recommendation for non-uniform multi-member wards is consistent with the recommendation made by the Commission of Inquiry which was to replace the individual councillor ward electoral system with multi-councillor wards to share representative responsibilities. This government response by Local Government Victoria took what the citizens write themselves (in grey) and then answered each point in turn with a detailed response. 161