THE State Government has defended a bill that could see councils and government agencies only have to advertise announcements online, and not in local newspapers or radio broadcasts.
The Statutes Amendment and Repeal (Simplify) Bill, first introduced by the former Labor Government and re-introduced by the current Liberal leadership, includes changes to 40 Acts aimed at reducing “red tape”.
Amongst the changes are 27 amendments that would only require government agencies to advertise announcements online.
Currently, agencies are obligated to post notifications, such as public consultation and law changes, in local newspapers whose readership is impacted by the announcement.
The bill was debated in parliament on Thursday, with Labor continuing its push for amendments to be made that would force the government and councils to continue advertising announcements in local media.
Shadow treasurer Stephen Mullighan said some members of the community may miss out on important government announcements if they were only placed online.
“It pains me to say this, but I think we can recognise that there are some government websites that are not highly trafficked and, for example, not highly trafficked for recent news,” he said.
“I suspect that people would have perhaps found out more information from their local newspaper about the consultation process on the government’s proposed three-year ban on snapper fishing than they would have from the fisheries subcategory on the PIRSA website.
“If that is a reasonable example, and I believe it is, then that probably holds true for many forms of decision and updates that may be made from time to time, or that are indeed required by law on a regular basis, that need publication throughout the community.”
Skills minister David Pisoni said the amendments to the State Government’s advertising policies were designed to reduce the cost and time taken to publish notices.
“The public notices reform aims to decrease the cost associated with public notices advertisement and the time taken to publish those notices,” he said.
“Where it is considered to be the best option, publication of notices in newspapers will continue to play an important role, for example, in rural and remote communities where internet access is not always available.”
