City election could end in court battle

BY LAWRENCE GIBBONS

City of Sydney Council election results could be deemed invalid if the Council fails to enrol a substantial number of local businesses, according to some councillors.

With less than one week remaining before all businesses in the City of Sydney must enrol to vote in the upcoming  September Council elections, many business owners remain unaware that they are legally required to vote in local council elections on September 10.

Local businesses have always had a vote in Council elections throughout NSW, but voting is now compulsory for business and commercial property owners in the City of Sydney. Changes in the law enacted last year require the City of Sydney to produce a roll of all eligible non-residential voters sixty days prior to Council elections. Businesses must return their enrolment forms to the City by July 14. Many businesses have failed to do so.

There are 80,000 businesses that are eligible to vote in the City. According to City of Sydney Liberal Councillor Edward Mandla, “If the corridor whispers are true, that the electoral roll is in the thousands rather than the tens of thousands –Melbourne is a good comparison– we are open to a disputed election result, or, even worse, another election. The Minister will probably have to defer the election, conduct an inquiry and tell us to get our act together and make sure everyone gets to have a say at the election.”

Sydney’s new business voting system is based on Melbourne, where 65,000 non-resident voters are enrolled to vote. As in Melbourne, it is the legal responsibility of the City Council to produce a roll of all eligible business voters. The City of Sydney will, in all likelihood, fail to produce a roll of most eligible voters, violating the law and leaving open the very real possibility that the election outcome will be contested in the NSW Court of Disputed Returns.

According to Independent Councillor Vithoulkas: “The whole process is overwhelming and confusing and the City of Sydney Council is treating small business owners with utter contempt.  I’m calling for an urgent independent inquiry and audit into the business registration project because we need to get to the bottom of what is going on”.

Clr Vithoulkas continued. “As the deadline gets closer I am being contacted by anxious local businesses who don’t know how to register. It’s terribly unfair that they may face fines of $2,200 if they don’t register on time, all because they were given the wrong information by Council. Business owners are now questioning if the whole system has been set-up to fail, denying them their right to have a say.”

With multiple forms to fill in, many business owners are confused about how they can comply with the law and avoid receiving fines as high as $2,200. As one local business owner posted on altmedia.net.au: “Just got a letter from the Council to enrol. 16 pages I have to fill out to get onto the roll plus I have to provide a multitude of certified documentation. It is easier to get a passport … It seems to be designed to discourage you from enrolling.”

City Hub has obtained an email from the NSW Bar Association indicating that its members had not been informed of their legal obligations to enrol.

Adding to the confusion, some types of businesses may have already missed the deadline to enrol. According to a City of Sydney spokesperson: “The overall deadline for enrolments is July 14. This is the latest date individuals and corporations can submit forms…The deadline for sole corporations, natural person group owners/occupiers, and rate paying lessees to submit the details of their nominated representatives is July 4.”

Councillor Vithoulkas said the situation was very confusing, despite Council spending an estimated $7,832 million of ratepayers’ money on the enrolment process and an information campaign to promote the business vote in September’s local government elections.

In July 2015, Price Waterhouse Coopers recommended that, as part of its multi-million dollar campaign, the City engage an independent contractor to go door to door in order to call on every eligible business. It also said there was an inherent conflict of interest in the council administering the business vote. Price Waterhouse Coopers stated that a door to door campaign was the best way to ensure that every business would be contacted. The City already conducts a similar survey of all buildings and businesses across the whole local area every five years and it takes around 10 months to complete. In Melbourne, the City conducts a census of all businesses in the municipality every two years. Beginning around March in an election year, staff surveyed businesses twice in key high density areas. The process takes three months.

In December 2015, the City opted to engage a contractor who would supply contact details for all occupiers for mail outs instead of conducting a door to door campaign as had been recommended by Price Waterhouse Coopers.