Under-fire Electoral Commissioner Robert Kennedy stood aside for rest of year
Under-fire Electoral Commissioner Robert Kennedy has been stood aside for the rest of the year, with the Government announcing a senior bureaucrat to take on the key role ahead of local council polls in October.
Electoral Affairs Minister David Michael told Parliament on Tuesday the Government had appointed Water and Environmental Regulation department deputy director general Dennis O'Reilly as acting electoral commissioner until the end of the year.
The move comes as Mr Kennedy continues 'personal leave' which he took at the end of March following the election, for which he and the WAEC faced criticism over the operations, including on polling day.
'I am very pleased to have someone of Mr O'Reilly's calibre take on this vitally important role for Western Australians,' Mr Michael said.
'October's local government elections are important for communities across our State and Mr O'Reilly will be working hard with his team to ensure they run smoothly.
'I thank Deputy Commissioner Courtney Baron for acting as Commissioner in recent weeks.
'With the report on the State Election Special Inquiry due on 30 June, there will also be work to do to ensure the difficulties experienced in the March election are not repeated, and Mr O'Reilly will lead this after the government has considered the report.'
Mr O'Reilly's appointment by the Governor came off the back of engagement with the Opposition and crossbench party leaders over the role.
Mr Kennedy drew criticism in the fallout from the State Election, with problems ranging from voter queues, ballot shortages and concerns about poorly trained staff.
After taking just a handful of questions the day after the election, Mr Kennedy shied away from public scrutiny, refusing to do any formal interviews. He told The West Australian after he was approached outside a meeting with Mr Michael that he wanted to finish the count first.
'That's what we owe to the community at the moment, is to finish the count so that everyone knows what the result is,' he said in March.
'We can get into the analysis after that.'
An independent inquiry, lead by former Governor Malcolm McCusker, has heard from staff members and voters, and is set to hand down a final report to the Government at the end of June.
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But it needs to be done in a consistent way because the truth of the matter is, I can't guarantee there's not another one of these disasters next week, next month, next year." Residents of Port Stephens captured a waterspout over Anna Bay on Wednesday afternoon, as the grey and cold weather blanketed much of the region. Temperatures dropped on Wednesday as a cold front moved offshore, pushed by a high-pressure system drifting across the state. This brought showers to an already sodden region. Partly cloudy conditions dominated much of the forecast for the remainder of the work week, with a return to mostly sunny conditions on Saturday, but not before dangerous and powerful surf conditions battered the coast and the Upper Hunter braced for one of the first flushes of frost for the season. Newcastle was in line for a shower or two on Thursday, most likely in the morning, forecasters said, as a surf warning remained in effect until Friday, when conditions were expected to ease. 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The uncommon waterspout at Anna Bay was captured by residents, who posted photos and videos on social media. The phenomenon is typically caused when wind blowing in contrary directions meet, creating a twisting action along the convergence line. The result forces air upwards, carrying water with it, and can result in localised heavy showers as it passes. It is not uncommon to see multiple spouts drifting in a line across the horizon, forecasters say, as the converging edge of the two wind gusts causes the air to twist at several points. The return to rain at the weekend came with a sense of trepidation as residents across the region and the Mid-North Coast recovered from widespread flooding last month. It comes as the state and federal governments expand disaster relief grants and funding this week, dating back to Tropical Cyclone Alfred in February. 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But it needs to be done in a consistent way because the truth of the matter is, I can't guarantee there's not another one of these disasters next week, next month, next year."
