source : the age
South Perth is the latest WA local government to face a councillor mass exodus after three members resigned in the span of 72 hours.
Chaos ensued after a tumultuous five-hour meeting on Thursday night centred around the council’s budget and whether to impose an above-inflation rate increase for the first time in seven years.
The budget was approved 5-4, meaning residents will be slammed with a general rates increase of 5.95 per cent.
Of the four councillors to vote against the budget, three would soon hand in their resignation.
On Sunday, councillors Tim Houweling and Bronwyn Waugh handed in their resignations, citing the budget decision as being the final straw in their frustrations with the council.
“I cannot continue to be effectual for this community in a dysfunctional environment,” Houweling wrote in a statement on his social media.
“Sadly, the Council hasn’t operated optimally for many years and has long been the subject of attention from the Department of Local Government.
“The recent passing of the 26-27 Budget (5/4) on Thursday night, however, really highlights my concerns. I simply cannot in good faith support a 5.95% increase when it does not yield good outcomes for the community.
“In addition to the Budget, the community needs to be cognisant of why good people are resigning from their positions on Council, and why our CEO and other senior staff are not in the workplace.”
Waugh echoed Houweling’s frustrations with the budget, which she said came at a time when “households and businesses continue to face cost-of-living-pressures”.
“My decision follows a lengthy period of reflection regarding the direction of the organisation, the effectiveness of its governance and the priorities reflected in the City’s most recent budget,” she said.
“Residents are being asked to fund a substantial rates increase without, in my view, receiving a commensurate increase in services or meaningful action on the issues they consistently identify as priorities.
“Since the 2025 local government elections, entrenched factionalism, disputes and an increasingly adversarial environment have made it difficult for councillors to work collaboratively and constructively in the best interests of the community.
“While reasonable people may differ on the causes, I have reached the conclusion that I can no longer effectively influence outcomes from within the Council chamber.
Houweling had been the Mill Point ward councillor for a year, while Waugh was first elected as a Como ward councillor in 2023.
Two days earlier, Hayley Prendiville also tapped out of her position as Moresby ward councillor, with her resignation made public on the city’s website on Friday.
She had been on council for three years and served on the city’s CEO Selection Committee, CEO Evaluation Committee, Arts Advisory Group and the City of South Perth Inclusive Community Advisory Group.
The resignations follow a trend among local governments across the state.
Last year, five councillors resigned from their positions at the City of Nedlands, blaming “dysfunction”, while four councillors, as well as the mayor, handed in their resignations at the Town of Port Hedland.
Then this May, six elected members, including the mayor, tendered their resignations at the Shire of Carnarvon over the span of three days.
The three resignations at the City of South Perth come less than a week after the council requested an extension of their appointed local government monitor, Gail McGowan, to allow for a workplace psychosocial risk assessment to be completed.
McGowan’s role as local government monitor at the city includes sitting in on council and committee meetings, inspecting documents and monitoring relationships between council members and staff.
The decision made on June 16 will see South Perth ratepayers pick up the $900-a-day bill – which works out to an approximate fee of $16,200 – to keep McGowan in her two-days-a-week role at the city until mid-August.
This is on top of a $12,600 paycheck ratepayers had to pick up after McGowan’s role was extended earlier in the year.
During the meeting to extend the watchdog’s position, Waugh made mention of the ongoing dysfunctional issues at the city.
“I am acutely aware that since the appointment, the organisation has continued to experience significant challenges, including ongoing governance tensions, continued complaints, including elected members, senior staff departures, and extended absences from key leadership positions,” she said at the time.
“As I look around the table, there are a lot of people not sitting in seats that have their names on them, and that is a concern.
“I’m not suggesting these matters are the responsibility of the monitor for a moment.
“However, it does make it very difficult for me to conclude that the underlying conditions or issues have been materially improved.”
Currently, the city’s chief executive Liz Ledger and corporate services director Bree Websdale are both on personal leave, with the city’s director of infrastructure services Anita Amprimo appointed as acting chief executive on March 25.
