The Council will allow approximately 15 minutes for Public Question Time.
The Mayor will call for questions from the public gallery.
People in the gallery wishing to ask a question must indicate their intention to ask a question. When acknowledged by the Mayor, the person must state their name and suburb, then ask their question in a manner befitting of a public meeting environment. If the person asking a question does not provide their name and suburb, the Mayor may refuse the question to be recorded or answered.
Each attendee is limited to 5 minutes of Council meeting time to ask and have their questions answered.
Any person asking a question may ask up to 3 questions unless otherwise agreed to by the Mayor. The person is able to ask their question(s) through an interpreter if they wish to do so.
The Mayor may refuse to allow a public question to be recorded or answered if it, in their opinion:
Impinges personally on any Elected Member or Employee of the Council, or relates to an Elected Member or Employee’s private life
Has been (or a similar question has been) answered in the last 12 months, through public question time, a deputation or via Council correspondence to the person
Is vague, irrelevant, insulting or improper
Contains defamatory remarks, offensive or improper language
Is considered to be debating or discussing Council matters
Except where a matter would normally be dealt with by Council on a confidential basis or is being dealt with by Council on a confidential basis, questions may relate to all aspects of Council business.
People in the gallery shall not enter into a debate or any other discussion and the Council will not enter into debate or discussion with the person/s asking the question.
The minute taker will record all questions asked during Public Question Time and a summary of the answers provided. Where an answer is unable to be provided at the meeting, Employees will provide the answer when it is available, directly to the person.
The Mayor may deem a question requires a substantial commitment of Council resources, or that more information is required to provide an accurate and full answer to a question. In these instances, the Mayor may request that the Chief Executive Officer provide a response directly to the person asking the question or that the person seek an individual meeting with Employees where appropriate.
All proceedings shall be at the absolute discretion of the Mayor.
