Coober Pedy Council's Administration to Continue Indefinitely

The Coober Pedy council's administration is set to continue indefinitely, with the state government delaying its transition out of administration. The remote Far North council was suspended and an administrator appointed in 2019.

The government had initially planned for the council to participate in the April 2027 local government elections, which would have marked the end of the administration. However, a new bill has been introduced to indefinitely delay that transition.

Council Not Ready for Transition

Local Government Minister Rhiannon Pearce told parliament that the council was not ready to be handed back over to an elected body.

"The principal administrator has advised me in the strongest possible terms of his concerns about the readiness of Coober Pedy council to return to an elected body at the next periodic local government elections, given the seriousness and the complexity of the issues the administrators are working to rectify," she said.

The council was suspended in 2019 by the former government in response to soaring debt and findings of maladministration. Ms Pearce said those issues were exacerbated by Coober Pedy's unique position as the only council in the state responsible for delivering essential services like water and electricity.

Water delivery will be transferred to SA Water by the end of this year, while discussions are underway with the Department for Energy and Mining over electricity supply.

Hybrid Model Under Consideration

The recent bill will allow for more flexibility around the timing of the transition and facilitate a hybrid model of governance. Ms Pearce said:

"Having travelled to Coober Pedy to meet with community leaders, they expressed a strong desire for a staged transition back to an elected council,"

Administrator Patrick Conlon said the most significant challenges faced by the council were water delivery and debt management.

"I think that there are sufficient indications of progress on the water front and the debt front to suggest that [the end of the administration] shouldn't be too far into next year," he said.

"The issue is what structure you would make a council. It's a town of only 1,600 people."

George Kountouris, chair of the Coober Pedy Retail, Business and Tourism Association, agreed the council was not yet ready to exit administration.

"After eight years, we've finally come to a point where things are happening," he said.

"We would be in a mess again [if the administration ended] because we owe a lot of money and that still has to be sorted."

"We don't want to get it wrong."

Caravan park owner Jason Wright felt the administration had gone on too long, and said the majority of residents were "over it".

"We have to come out of this administration because that's not doing the town any good," he said.

"But they have to put the things in place to make that transition easy for the local people."