The Planning Matters Alliance Tasmania and Tasmanian Conservation Trust have warned that today may be the day that Tasmania’s democracy is weakened by removal of 50 local government councillors, and it may all happen in the dark without voters having their say.

The legislation to remove 50 local government councillors has not been released for the community, the voters, to comment on. The government has misled the Legislative Council by claiming that this has occurred. 

The Legislative Council is due to continue debate on this legislation today, from 11am, and TCT and PMAT call on them to request the state government to withdraw the legislation and release it to the public for comment. If this does not occur then the Legislative Council should support the Greens proposed amendment to remove the provisions relating to councillor numbers.

In an extraordinarily sneaky move the state government released a totally different version of the legislation – Local Government Amendment (Targeted Reforms) Bill 2026 – for public comment last September than is currently being considered by the Legislative Council. The provisions relating to removing local government councillors and councillor allowances were excluded from the versions shown to the public. The version that is now being considered by the Legislative Council is forty pages longer, forty pages the community never got to see.

‘The State Government has gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid scrutiny on the proposed reduction in the number of local government councillors, from the community, local government and the parliament’, said TCT CEO Peter McGlone.

‘Reducing the number of councillors will reduce the level of representation of the community e.g. by reducing the number of people elected who are from minority groups and the more sparsely populated rural and remote parts of municipalities’. 

‘Reducing representation weakens democracy.’

‘The Tasmanian public may have very mixed views on reducing the number of local government councillors but they should be given the opportunity to have their say on an issue vital to our democracy’ said PMAT State Coordinator, Sophie Underwood.

‘Some Councils have indicated they support a reduction in councillor numbers and others oppose this but councils should not talk on behalf of the voters about  reducing representation’.

Further comment:

Sophie Underwood and Peter McGlone are available for interview at Parliament lawns at 1.00pm, Wednesday 28 May.

Contact details:

Sophie Underwood
State Coordinator, Planning Matters Alliance Tasmania
0407 501 999

Peter McGlone
CEO, Tasmanian Conservation Trust
0406 380 545