SOON council votes will be beamed into living rooms around the state as the NSW government mandates new rules to make meetings more “transparent, inclusive and respectful.”
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Following a review of the NSW code of meeting practice for local government, councils around the state will have make their meetings available to the public by webcast within the next year.
Tamworth Regional Council had explored the idea in the past but scuttled the plan after it was estimated to cost up to $175,000 to install the appropriate equipment.
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Mayor Col Murrray, however, believed it was a good idea in an age where people mostly accessed their information from the lounge room.
He said it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect the state government to come to the party with funding to support the new mandate.
Cr Murray said it would be raised with Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson.
In the announcement, local government minister Gabrielle Upton said it would make meetings more “transparent, informed, inclusive and respectful.”
The mayor balked at part of the claim.
He said there wasn’t much respect shown in the way NSW politicians interacted in question time.
“I’d argue local government might be able demonstrate what respectful meetings look like,” he said.
Tamworth councillor Charles Impey said local government transparency was already “as good as it got” and live-streaming would simply be an “enhancement”.
He said the cost shouldn’t be an issue.
“If it’s mandatory, those concerns are somewhat out of our control, we’ve just got to do it,” he said.
Ms Upton said it was time for councillors to be brought in to line with state and federal MPs.
“The reality is that residents and ratepayers who want to know what is going on at their council can get online and be informed,” she said.
The new Model Code of Meeting Practice is the first uniform set of meeting rules for NSW councils.
“The code includes optional time limits on meetings, a five-minute limit on councillor speeches, uniform rules of debate, and limits on mayoral minutes,” she said.
“There have been too many instances where Mayoral Minutes have been used to bring issues to the council without proper notice.”
An online poll conducted by The Northern Daily Leader showed most respondents were in favour of council offering a live stream of its meetings.
More than 72 per cent said to would be a good way to become more informed, while only 19 per cent said they wouldn’t watch it and it would be boring.