A STATE Government decision to abolish the requirement for councils to print public notices – that impact SA country and regional communities – in local newspapers has been described as “extraordinary” and “disappointing”.
Councils are no longer obliged to publish community consultations, meetings, development and planning issues, and similar public notices in newspapers and can instead post the same material on websites.
The SA Liberals in the upper house – including Riverland-based MLC Nicola Centofanti – last week joined forces with the Greens and Independent John Darley to vote down a Labor push to insert the newspaper requirement into the relevant legislation.
The move “undermines the value of country newspapers and regional communities”, according to Labor spokesperson for local government, Emily Bourke, who spoke strongly for the amendment during the parliamentary debate.
“Keeping this requirement would have proved vital in ensuring when readers are checking the local footy and netball scores, they can also check the public notices published by councils that impact their lives, like development and planning issues,” Ms Bourke said.
“Few people will check their local council’s website, or the Government’s Gazette in search of public notices that could impact their lives, but they do check their local newspaper.
“This decision disrespects the core role of local newspapers, which is to share information with the very people the councils’ decisions could impact: local ratepayers.”
Labor’s amendment called for a minimum standard to be adhered to by local councils: that public notices be published in a paper circulating only within the area of the local council. As a result of the amendment being voted down by one vote – 10 for and 11 against – local government now has the option of publishing either online or in newspapers.
Ms Burke predicted the Liberals’ push to publish important public notices on a website could further increase the digital divide and would “hit hard in our regional communities where many do not have access to reliable internet”.
“Labor fought to protect regional and remote newspapers – and the jobs of their dedicated journalists – by insisting local information is still published in local papers,” she said.
Ms Centofanti, who was appointed to the Upper House last year, midway through the election cycle, voted along Government lines and said councils could still use local newspapers if they choose.
“It’s the Government’s opinion that local councils should have the autonomy to notify the community of consultation in ways that deem appropriate,” she said.
“This could include notices on their website and newsletters as well as using local media.
“It will still be open to all councils to choose to publish information in local newspaper to provide information to their local communities, and the Government expects that they will do so wherever they see their local paper as an effective way to inform their communities.”
Immediate past president of Country Press Australia, Ben Taylor, owner of this newspaper, said the State Government has “got it totally wrong” by failing to support public interest journalism.
“The feds have spent $20 million-plus on an ACCC inquiry into how digital platforms – Google and Facebook – are affecting the viability of public interest journalism,” Mr Taylor said.
“In a worldwide first the Australian Government is making these digital platforms pay for the news they plagiarise… and at the same time our state government is watering down the need for local governments to support local newspapers and hence the democratic process at grass-roots level.
“Regional newspapers are vitally important to the communities they serve. Only last year we saw a rationalisation of mastheads across SA with several mastheads disappearing, including the Loxton News and the River News.
“This state government is certainly not helping the democratic process at local government level by pushing through this Bill.”
Publishing local councils’ public notices has been a long-standing requirement in the Local Government Act 1999.