What your councillors had to say about the failed positions policy

The 90-minute debate ended with a vote which split five to four, striking down the policy.

Councillors Ben Taylor, Amy Johnson, Samantha McIntosh and Tracey Hargreaves voted for the motion, and councillors Daniel Maloney, Mark Harris, Peter Eddy, Belinda Coates and Des Hudson voted against the policy.

The City of Ballarat's draft formal positions policy would mean council would not establish a formal position or undertake advocacy on a specific matter that is "the subject of a referendum at a state or federal Government level" or are "international in nature and over which council has no legislated authority or responsibility" or "considered by the mayor and chief executive officer to be too remote from the circumstances of the City of Ballarat's ratepayers and residents and therefore, to have relatively low direct impact on them."

The draft policy was changed the morning of the council meeting - removing one paragraph and adding in a new one which included the need for community consultation for council taking a position on a federal or state government issue.

Four councillors questioned the need for council to discuss big issues like nuclear arms and Palestine.

Councillor Ben Taylor moved the motion - the draft policy came before council after Cr Taylor presented a notice of motion at the March meeting.

Cr Taylor said it was an opportunity to put "local back in local government".

"We have all these different levels of government, we have checks and balances," he said.

"Tonight provides the community with the opportunity, also the confidence, we will focus on local and not get distracted."

Cr Taylor also said a notice of motion did not give adequate time to make an informed decision to represent the broader community.

He said this policy would define the role of council and what the expectation were.

Cr Taylor said the policy was not about "cost and time" but the role of council.

Cr Tracey Hargreaves said she thought the policy would give councillors "good parameters" on what council should be debating and what the "community require us to debate".

She brought up the notice of motion about supporting a ceasefire in Gaza, and said she felt it was "unfair" she needed to be across an decades-long war in less than a week.

"I understand the need for people to have a voice and be heard but we don't have any legislative authority," she said.

Cr Amy Johnson, who seconded the motion, said it was a "good policy".

She said what concerned her the most was that in most motions that come to council, councillors were "representing our residents without consulting them".

"Councils are expected now more than ever to consult community," Cr Johnson said.

She said with council's limited resources, they should be advising residents to "speak to the local member of Parliament."

Cr Samantha McIntosh said outcomes from these notices of motion become "emotive" and was not "good democratic process".

"We need to stay within our role and expertise," she said.

Cr McIntosh said council needed to set some boundaries.

Cr Daniel Moloney first raised the question of how this would work with the City of Ballarat's Governance Rules for notices of motion.

According to the document, there are several causes in which the chief executive officer may reject a notice of motion, including being outside the powers of council, is too vague or may be prejudicial to any person or council.

The Local Government Act 2020 outlines the role of the council and how its role was to "to provide good governance in its municipal district for the benefit and wellbeing of the municipal community".

Cr Moloney said the policy would be a "massive mistake to go down this path".

"It forces unnecessary additional bureaucracy and protocols around your roles as a councillor," he said.

"Councillors (are) very limited in how they can come forward with items. They can call for a report but only with the support of the majority."

Cr Moloney said it was an "unnecessary restriction for democracy" when there were already checks and balances in place.

He said if councillors didn't want to support a motion, they didn't have to vote for it.

"We have a group of nine councillors who are suppose to representative of the community," Cr Moloney said.

Cr Peter Eddy said he was concerned over the policy having a "narrow definition of roles and responsibilities".

"This council group is mature enough," he said.

"We've made some big decision over the last four years."

Cr Eddy said council would become "bogged down in a quagmire of questions of what can and can't be brought up".

Cr Mark Harris said this policy would gag debate, adding council worked hard to listen to its community.

"There have only been three motions on international issues," he said.

"This is nonsense, it doesn't waste time, it takes minutes for us to debate these motions."

Cr Belinda Coates said the council had a role to advocate for its whole community.

"This is a brazen attempt to dictate what councillors can raise," she said.

Cr Coates said it was undemocratic and would limit a councillors ability to raise an issue.

She also said the policy was confusing and vague, noting the need for clarification several times by public submissions and councillors.

Cr Des Hudson said the Ballarat council was able to self-determine what was appropriate and represent their community.

"We are adults, we can make a decision," he said.

Mount Alexander Shire council adopted this policy in February 2024 - the first local government in Victoria to do so.

The Mount Alexander Shire councillors found they were often being asked to take positions on wider issues and were "clear they consider that the Mount Alexander Shire Council taking a position on such matters is not appropriate" - as written in the minutes from the Mount Alexander Shire council meeting where this policy was adopted.

The report stated as a "small, rural" council, they did not have resources for these matters but noted "it appears that the larger metropolitan councils, and to an extent some of the regional cities, consider it more appropriate to engage in State, Federal and International political matters than do rural councils".

Mount Alexander Shire's concerns were also around causing division in the township, being unable to take an informed position and how much a council's advocacy could make for a state, federal or even international issue.

Mount Alexander Shire has a population of 20,200 people with a median age of 51 - according to the 2021 census.

City of Ballarat has a population of over 118,000 people and a median age of 39.