The City of Perth council has moved to bring the LGBTIA+ advisory board under council control after the group racked up over $52,000 in legal fees this financial year.
The West Australian has reported that the council voted to restructure the body, curtailing its independence, in a bid to run it more efficiently. The council has not revealed what the large amount of legal fees related to.
The council created the body in 2021 with the goal of improving inclusion in the City of Perth. It’s formation followed a public outcry over comments made by newly elected Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas that were deemed to be be transphobic.
The group worked with the council to create an LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Plan that was adopted by the council.
The original members of the advisory board’s two-year terms came to an end in March. Five of the original fifteen members had resigned over the period due to moving away from Perth, starting new employment or taking on academic work.
The council has asked the remaining ten if they wished to continue for another two years, an offer which nine of the accepted. Six new board members were put forward for council endorsement, but instead the council voted to restructure the group and bring it under staff management.
Councilor Brent Fleeton, who moved the motion calling for the restructure, said rate player should feel let down that such a significant amount of resources has been spent on people who not elected to their roles.
“Immediately after being made aware of these expenses through my questions in a public forum, I asked my council colleagues to shift all advisory responsibilities for this area to the city’s CEO so that this can never happen again,” he said.
“Like every other aspect of the administration, the CEO is the one to provide elected members with advice using ratepayer resources.
“You don’t pay rates to empower a separate unelected group to pursue a potentially different agenda to that of the elected councillors while sitting outside the control of the administration.”
OIP Staff
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