Voters in the Cities of Victor Harbor and Onkaparinga and the District Council of Yankalilla may face supplementary council elections as two elected councillors have failed to lodge campaign returns and have been stood down.

Victor Harbor council has advised that Michael Quinton is one of 45 councillors across South Australia elected last November to be affected by the Electoral Commission of South Australia’s (ECSA) announcement last week.

Onkaparinga Council has yet to name the councillor concerned, but a statement from Mayor Moira Were says until the matter is resolved there will be a casual vacancy in the Knox ward.

Yankalilla Council has advised that Light ward councillor Davina Quirke is one of the 45 affected members.

Local Government Minister Geoff Brock says he was concerned to learn that a significant number of council members have failed to lodge their campaign returns to ECSA.

“It is a basic requirement of the Local Government (Elections) Act 1999 that all candidates must complete returns that describe gifts that they have received during their campaigns.

“This requirement ensures that councils’ constituents are aware of gifts their members have received, and who has provided them. It is fundamental to the proper transparency and accountability of council members’ decision making. It is also not onerous.

“Gifts that are under $500 in value are not required to be recorded and members who do not receive any gifts simply have to return a statement to that effect – that is, a nil return.

“That is why I am disappointed that so many elected members have not met this requirement, despite receiving advice on 12 occasions; including information from the initial candidate handbook, correspondence after nominations closed, information on the Electoral Commission website and multiple post-election reminders from the Electoral Commissioner, including registered mail.”

The City of Victor Harbor has also expressed its extreme disappointment at the situation.

“Council Members who have been affected can now make an application to the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT) to seek reinstatement, following which a determination will be made.

“Michael Quinton has expressed a strong desire to continue serving the Victor Harbor community. He will appeal to SACAT to have his position as a Council Member re-instated.

“We sincerely hope this process is successful and can be resolved as soon as possible.”

Onkaparinga Mayor Were says any remuneration and access to council support services for the affected elected member has stopped.

“Council and committee meetings will continue as normal, as quorum has been maintained.

“ESCA is assessing the situation across all SA councils, and there is a process to go through before we know whether or not a supplementary election is required in the Knox ward.”

The Local Government (Elections) Act 1999 was changed in 2021 to require campaign donations returns to be provided to the Electoral Commissioner, rather than to the council CEOs.

Minister Brock says he will be looking very closely at the legislation to make sure that this does not happen again at future local government elections