Live-streaming mandated for councils

Local Government Minister Gabrielle Upton announced a uniform code of meeting practice on Friday, mandating all councils webcast their meetings within the next year. 

“If it’s good enough for federal and state MPs to go live to the nation, then there is no reason why local councillors should be exempt,” she said.

However, Orange has live-streamed its council meetings since March after a vote in October 

Mayor Reg Kidd said it had been a useful tool.

“It’s brought a reasonable degree of decorum to the meetings because we’re on the screen,” he said.

The code also includes optional time limits on meetings, a five-minute limit on councillor speeches and uniform rules of debate.

Cr Kidd said the council already used the five-minute limit.

“I would be happy with three minutes and a two-minute extension,” he said.

“If you can’t get the message across in five minutes, you’re not getting the message across at all.”

However, he approached time limits on meetings with caution, saying stopping halfway could create a backlog and Orange had scheduled extra meetings in the past to avoid it.

VIDEO: An Orange City Council meeting a month ago …

“You have to exercise common sense,” he said.

 There will also be limits on mayoral minutes, which are items a mayor can bring forward for debate.

“There have been too many instances where mayoral minutes have been used to bring issues to the council without proper notice,” Ms Upton said.

Cr Kidd, who rarely brings forward mayoral minutes, said he usually chose not to put them forward because it denied staff the ability to research items in advance. 

However, LGNSW labelled the announcement ill-timed and ill-judged.

President Linda Scott said while councils wanted to ensure meetings met the highest standards of transparency, a meeting procedure code was not a pressing issue, particularly for councils in areas with poor internet coverage where webcasting would be a challenge.

“However, in a time of statewide drought and a global waste crisis, we’re seeking to work with the state government on the issues that matter,” she said. 

“Local governments are asking to work with the local government minister on taking steps to mitigate the global waste crisis and recycle more, properly fund our public libraries and pools, and mitigate the worst aspects of dangerous climate change and drought.”

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