Mel Lawrence and Brian Parker duly elected as Area Councillors

The Court of Disputed Returns has made orders finalising a petition filed in the Court by the Electoral Commissioner of South Australia’s (ECSA) disputing the outcome of the 2022 local government election for area councillors for Adelaide Plains Council. The dispute arose from an error in the settings applied by ECSA to the computer counting software used for the counting of votes in complex elections.

Arising from that software error, the Court of Disputed Returns has, on 2 December 2024, declared Ms Terry-Anne Keen and Mr Eddie Stubing not duly elected, and Councillor Mel Lawrence and Councillor Brian Parker duly elected.

I would like to acknowledge Terry-Anne Keen and Eddie Stubing for their many years of service to their community, whose contributions have been exemplary. Notably, Terry-Anne Keen has served on Council in excess of 25 years and Eddie Stubing for 6 years. Both are well known and active members in our community.

I also take this opportunity to welcome Councillors Lawrence and Parker, who have both served on Council in the past. We look forward to their contributions over the next two years of this term.

Council’s Chief Executive Officer, James Miller, added ‘it is unfortunate that both the Council and the good folk caught up in these proceedings, through no fault of their own, have had to endure 12 months of uncertainty before a determination could be handed down.’

Councillors Lawrence and Parker were officially sworn in prior to the reconvened council meeting on 2 December 2024.

A separate petition, also filed by ECSA,remains pending before the Court. This petition disputes the outcome of a recount conducted following the resignation of former councillor John Lush in October 2023. Councillor Carmine Di Troia, who was elected in that recount, continues to serve as a member of Council. A hearing in respect of this petition is scheduled for 19 December 2024.

In granting ECSA’s late request to file both petitions earlier this year, the Court concluded that it was necessary to do so to preserve the integrity of the electoral process. The Court noted that it was a credit to the affected councillors that they continued in their roles while a resolution in these matters was pending, and there was no reason to think they had not fulfilled their functions as councillors with enthusiasm and diligence.

Mark Wasley
Mayor

3 December 2024