From the top of Western Australia to the heart of Perth, councils across the state have been thrown into disarray, begging the question of how something that “doesn’t work” can be fixed.
In the past one year, various councils have been working in a state of deterioration, a situation that led many people to resign and appoint commissioners to hold the positions of councilors.
This breach of performance has caused such concern that Local Government Minister Hannah Beazley has issued councils a “warning” saying: “This bad practice must stop.”
In the past 12 months, commissioners were appointed to two councils: Port Hedland City and Nedlands City. In April 2025, a commissioner was also appointed for the Shire of Derby/West Kimberley.
Then, earlier this month, it was revealed that another commissioner was set to be appointed, this time for the Shire of Carnarvon, after six elected members – including the mayor – tendered their resignations within three days.
The shire issued a statement this week noting it was a “significant and unusual situation” which left only father and son Dudley and Burke Maslen remaining on Gascoyne council.
Last September, three commissioners were appointed in the Town of Port Hedland after four councilors and the mayor resigned from their positions.
Former mayor Peter Carter claimed his decision to leave was due to a breakdown within the council.
Beazley appointed commissioners Jessica Shaw, Martin Aldridge and Ron Yuryevich to oversee the affairs of Hedland council until the local government elections held in March this year.
In July, five councilors also resigned from their posts in the City of Nedlands due to “inactivity”, which meant the local government governing one of Perth’s wealthiest codes was unable to reach a quorum.
The mass exodus meant all remaining elected members – including then mayor Fiona Argyle – they were relieved of their duties and replaced by commissioners.
Beazley, who described the ordeal as a “disgraceful saga of dysfunction and lack of unity” appointed David Caddy, Bianca Sandri and Cath Hart as the three commissioners who will take over council duties until the March election.
One of the biggest controversies that led to mass resignations was the council’s failure to agree on plans for WA’s first children’s hospital, which proposed using the nearby Allen Park A-Class park as a children’s recreation area.
It was later revealed the city was too under investigation by WorkSafe on allegations of employee misconduct and inappropriate workplace behavior, and more than 70 people quit their jobs in 18 months.
In April 2025, five councilors who resigned in the Shire of Derby/West Kimberley appointed Jeff Gooding as a local government commissioner.
In his statement, Gooding said his job would be “acting as a council” after the remaining four councilors were removed from their positions.
“I understand the issues have contributed to the resignation of former Council members. However, my role is not to investigate those specific issues. That does not mean that I cannot or will not seek to understand the background of the decisions that were made,” Gooding said.
“My main focus, however, will be on the future of what needs to be done for Derby West Kimberley Shire Council.”
In August, Beazley announced the appointment of WA’s first local government auditor Anthony Brown.
Brown’s role as inspector allows him to examine the state’s 139 local councils and comes with the ability to intervene to ensure compliance with laws and codes of conduct.
The inspector can also issue violations of up to $1000, and appoint monitors to assist local governments with ethics and compliance issues.
Investigators are positioned to work constructively with council members and staff to resolve issues before they escalate.
Less than two weeks into his role, a monitor was sent to the City of Perth, with the City of South Perth and the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale soon receiving monitors of their own.
The way forward
On Tuesday, Beazley announced more measures to ensure elected council members adhere to ethical standards.
Three local government judges were appointed instead of a local government standards panel to assess complaints against council members.
The first appointee to the chief justice position is Rob Lilley, a lawyer and former WA police detective.
The two assistant referees who will assist in finding results, ordering mediation and awarding the recently enhanced penalties are Conor Fahey and Lee McIntosh.
Beazley told this newspaper he was deeply concerned about the “increasing level of inefficiency and poor governance that has become evident in all parts of the local government sector”.
“I have shown that I will not tolerate this level of dysfunction and maladministration, and I have made decisions, when necessary, in appointing commissioners,” he said.
“I have put local governments on notice that this bad behavior needs to be stopped. Those who do bad things need to change and focus on what is for the benefit of their communities.”
Beazley said the combination of a local government inspector, investigators and judges would help improve “accountability, transparency and decision-making in local government across the state”.
But former prime minister Colin Barnett is not confident the new duties will be enough to end the chaos between councils.
After long championing the idea of local government amalgamation, Barnett said 139 councils across the state were “too many” to allow for good governance.
“I think, reducing the number of councils in metropolitan areas by merging some of the smaller ones is good,” he said.
“Councils that work well are usually bigger, Stirling, Cockburn, City of Perth, and they have more professional staff and more capacity.
“There is no doubt that, not only is the number of councils too large … the smallest, in particular, cannot meet the needs of local councils.”
Barnett said 100 councils across the state would be a good target to reach, as well as having a clearer definition of what the council’s role is.
“What I was telling councilors was, ‘Unless you start doing this and have a plan to bring councils together and reduce the numbers to, say, 100 … you’re just going to die on the vine.’ And I think that’s what we see,” he said.
“And I think the councils have created this problem for themselves by failing to work on it.
“Some people say, get rid of (local councils) … I don’t agree with it or want that, but I would like to see them clearly defined and consider their role and do it well.”
