The peak body for local government in New South Wales intends to revisit regulations that allow its president to be ousted should a member council that they belong to leaves the organisation.
“I will be sorting out those rules and making sure that this doesn’t happen again to a president that has been democratically elected for a two-year period,” Local Government New South Wales president Cr Phyllis Miller told Government News.
The comments follow the surprise departure of former LGNSW president Cr Darriea Turley in December when Broken Hill City Council – of which Turley is an elected member – voted to resign from the organisation. Consequently, as per LGNSW rules, Turley was no longer eligible to hold the office of president – a role she has held since 2021.
Miller, who was elected to replace Turley – and who will serve the remainder of her term – admitted to GN she was blindsided by her colleague’s sudden exit. “It was a shock as to why and how it all happened. I can see we’ve got some issues with our rules within Local Government New South Wales,” she said.
Miller – who was until recently LGNSW vice president (rural/regional) – added: “I don’t want to speak ill of councils making decisions because they’re democratically elected and they make their decisions at their local level. But I can see that it has been an issue for us in how this could happen.”
Whilst Miller remains committed to the belief that a president needs to be a local council member, she told GN that should there be “some argy-bargy” and that council decides to resign, “You should be able to stay until at least the end of your elected term. It means you can’t stand again, but you should be able to stay; your peers have elected you for that two-year term.”
When asked whether Broken Hill City Council had resigned membership in order to purposely defenestrate Turley as president, Miller replied: “I’m not going to comment on any of that. That would be inappropriate.”
“It was a shock as to why and how it all happened.”
Looking towards the future, Miller said she will embrace the role of LGNSW president “with a lot of zest and energy”.
Miller has been a member of the LGNSW board since the peak’s inception in 2013 when the Local Government Association of NSW amalgamated with the Shire’s Association of NSW. Of which, Miller was also president – the first woman to be elected in its history.
Miller – who is Mayor of Forbes Shire Council – told GN of her priorities for the year. “Firstly, letting people know that we’re going to be fighting for all of their cause right through 2025. Financial sustainability is number one for all of local government – not only here in NSW but right across Australia.”
She added: “We will work constructively with our state government and with the federal government in order to make sure that local government is healthy into the future, especially financially.”
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