From the President
 In a challenging article this week, the Sydney Morning Herald's planning writer, Elizabeth Farrelly, went into bat for local democracy as she reflected on draconian anti-council planning legislation now before the NSW parliament. Local government, she argued, was set up as a whipping boy of the state. "To some extent, it's a pecking order thing," she wrote. Like Australia needed New Zealand, state government needed councils. She suggests that the system was set up from the beginning to fail. "Ours is the roads, rates and rubbish model, custom-designed to fail. Under-paid, under-powered, under-protected". Of course, not all state governments beat-up on local government. And of those that do, most don't do it all the time. Nonetheless, it was refreshing to see what our federal politicians were up to this week. The brand new parliamentary secretary for water, Malcolm Turnbull, was busy announcing new Water Smart grants for councils in NSW. While the amounts were not enormous, they represent a significant development - federal funding to help local government improve the efficiency of an important infrastructure asset. At the same time, Labor's local government spokesman, Kim Carr, was outlining his party's commitments to address federal funding deficiencies. "Labor recognises that local government is facing a number of cost pressures, and that a significant backlog in maintenance of local government infrastructure continues to grow," he said. "Labor proposes to change that." He has made four very specific commitments to local government, as set out above. These two developments show quite clearly that opportunities exist for local government at the national level. Change is afoot. It is up to us to drive that change and press ahead with our campaign for fair funding, fair treatment and formal recognition. Our communities deserve nothing less.
Cr Paul Bell AM
ALGA President
Increased truck charges voted down
Transport ministers have voted against a recommendation for higher fuel and registration charges for B-doubles and road trains proposed by the National Transport Commission. The Commission recommended that national registration fees for most classes of vehicles remain essentially the same but fees for B-doubles and road trains increase by one third. It further recommended that the road user charge for all classes of freight vehicle increase from 20c to 22.1c a litre. Federal transport minister Warren Truss said that the Australian Government remained supportive of the principle of cost recovery from heavy vehicles, but that the proposed increases would result in an "unjustified" level of recovery. Ministers will now wait for a Productivity Commission review - now underway - into the costs of road and rail transport. ALGA has supported the review, particularly on the basis that its terms of reference include an assessment of the safety and environmental impacts of heavy freight transport, and that it offers the prospect of making transparent the true costs of each mode of transport.
Cemetery skills package for review
The funeral industry training package is being reviewed and comment is now sought from interested parties. The package includes national qualifications for training, skills recognition and assessment for cemetery and crematoria workers and gravediggers. The discussion phase will run until May. A discussion paper can be downloaded from Service Skills Australia. Comments and questions to Kit McMahon by email kmcmahon@serviceskills.com.au or by calling 02 8243 1212.
MobileMuster goes local
MobileMuster, the recycling scheme of the Australian mobile phone industry, is turning its focus to local government. More than 100 councils have registered to help promote and collect mobile phones. MobileMuster Manager with the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, Rose Read, says collection volumes are up by 50% compared to the previous month. "With the additional help of councils with more collection points and local promotions we expect awareness of the program and collection rates to continue to grow." MobileMuster is a simple and free recycling solution. It aims to triple annual collections of mobile phones, batteries and accessories over the next three years from 60 tonnes to 180 tonnes a year and halve the number going to landfill. More than 90% of the plastics and metals in a mobile phone can be recovered and used in other products such as jewellery, fence posts and stainless steel.
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Community Heritage Grants 2006
Applications close 9 June
Community Heritage Grants of up to $10 000 are available to assist in
preserving locally held nationally signifi cant cultural heritage collections.
Not-for-profi t community organisations such as historical societies,
museums, public libraries, archives, Indigenous and migrant groups
are eligible to apply for funding.
Applications close Friday 9 June
Application forms and guidelines can be
downloaded from: www.nla.gov.au/chg
Printed copies of the form are available from:
Coordinator, Community Heritage Grants
National Library of Australia
Canberra ACT 2600
Email: chg@nla.gov.au
Phone: 02 6262 1147
The 2006 Community Heritage Grants program is
funded by the Australian Government through
the National Library of Australia; the
Department of Communications, Information
Technology and the Arts; the National Archives
of Australia; the National Film and Sound Archive;
and the National Museum of Australia.
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2006 Security in government conference
9-11 May 2006
National Convention Centre Canberra ACT
The Security in Government conference - hosted by the Attorney-General's Department - continues to be the largest conference of its type in Australia.
SIG 2006 aims to expand the range of issues addressed by the conference to include protective security, counter-terrorism and the impact of the current security environment on the Australian community. The conference will include an array of both Australian and international speakers, plus a number of panel discussions.
Your attendance at SIG 2006 will provide you with continuing professional development and networking opportunities with some of Australia's leading security professionals and practitioners.
Further details on the SIG 2006 website , call 02 6250 5547 or email
sig2006@ag.gov.au.
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Cyclone Larry: how to help
Local government in Queensland has been at the forefront of the response to the devastation caused to communities in the far north of the state by Cyclone Larry. The Local Government Association of Queensland says there is an urgent need for roads and drainage engineers, building inspectors and/or surveyors and environmental health officers over the next two to three weeks. Councils wanting to assist by making specialist staff available should do so by contacting LGAQ. ALGA and LGAQ President, Cr Paul Bell, has asked that all financial donations be directed through the Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal Fund at any branch of the Commonwealth Bank or by phoning 1800 150 411.
To offer assistance with specialist staff - call LGAQ on 07 3000 2222
To make financial donations - call Premier's relief appeal 1800 150 411
ALGA on flu pandemic working group
ALGA is participating in a working group convened by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to develop a national action plan for influenza pandemic, prevention and preparedness. The working party will meet regularly over the next few months and report back to COAG in June. The plan will set out agreed federal, state/territory and local government priority actions to be implemented in the event of a possible human-to-human influenza pandemic. This work will include a comprehensive package of actions that deal with prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. The plan will ensure effective integration and coordination of effort and will not duplicate or replace existing and well-practised national plans such as the Commonwealth disaster response plan or state and territory pandemic plans. If adopted, COAG will test the influenza pandemic plan with a national exercise later in 2006.
Forum calls for local role in water access
The Fourth World Water Forum has ended in Mexico this week with a declaration setting out ,for the first time, a key role for local governments to play in providing water to desperately parched communities. Decentralisation of water supply management was a central theme of the forum, along with the need for transparency and more money to improve clean water access. Delegations from 140 countries signed the declaration underlining the "important role that legislators and local authorities have in various countries to develop sustained access to water and sewage services". The forum's final declaration was released to coincide with the United Nations' World Water Day on Wednesday.
Weed resource for councils
A new training resource - The Introductory Weed Management Manual (PDF) - has been produced by the Weeds Cooperative Research Centre. Printed copies of this manual are available at no cost. The manual is an introductory guide for those with little experience with weed management, particularly the control of environmental weeds. It will be of use to those who wish to develop their own weed management knowledge and skills and as a training resource for those who need to train staff or volunteers in weed management techniques. More information from Nikki Ward by email nikki.ward@deh.gov.au or phone 02 6274 2082.
Water funding: second round now open
The National Water Commission has this week announced a second call for projects to be submitted for possible funding under the $1.6bn Water Smart Australia program. The program is open to councils, state and territory governments and other organisations in rural, regional and urban areas for projects that generate substantial improvements in water resource management, water supply, water use efficiency, environmental flows or river health and water quality. Further information and guidelines are available from the National Water Commission . Applications close on June 16. There has also been a special call for irrigation proposals.
Carr flags stormwater initiative
A future Labor government could put stormwater on the national agenda and use federal "levers" to encourage and support water sensitive design and construction. The moves have been flagged in a speech by Labor's spokesman on housing, urban development and local government, Senator Kim Carr, in South Australia yesterday. He said concern had been expressed at the poor state of Australia's stormwater system. "I believe this is an area where the Commonwealth should be taking an interest".
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Third annual local government instrastructure conference
April 6-7 2006
Double Bay, Sydney
The third annual Building and Financing Local Government Infrastructure Conference will be held in Sydney between April 6-7 at the Stamford Plaza in Double Bay.
This popular event which attracts more than 150 senior managers and councillors annually will focus on assisting local government decision makers to bridge the infrastructure financing gap and will showcase leading examples of innovation and success in building and financing much needed infrastructure.
Experts from a wide range of disciplines will address the conference including Ross Greenwood, the Deputy Director General of the NSW Dept of Local Government; the Hon Anna Bligh, Deputy Premier of Queensland; Maha Sinnathamby, the Chairman of the Greater Springfield Land Corporation; John Davis from IDSM; and Doug Owens from Banyule City Council.
Case studies will include the City of Townsville's Cleveland Bay Treatment Plant PPP:
the City of Charles Sturt's clever use of debt financing to overcome what would have been a high cost replacement of major parts of its road system; Wollongong Council's City Beach Redevelopment and Parramatta City's CBD Renewal Project.
For more information about the conference see www.halledit.com.au or telephone Denise McQueen on 03 8534 5000.
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International Local Government Asset Management Conference
Wednesday 26 - Thursday 27 April 2006
Hotel Sofitel, Melbourne
With billions of dollars worth of ageing infrastructure nearing the end of its useful life and a limited capacity to raise revenue, local government must adopt sound financial strategies, robust methodologies and best practice policies to manage asset obligations.
The 2006 International Local Government Asset Management Conference, hosted by the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) will explore how councils can make a difference by integrating a 'whole of organisation' asset management strategy that meets community service priorities.
International and local speakers will provide expert insight into global responses to asset management challenges and a range of case studies will demonstrate some of the leading strategies being adopted by councils across Australia.
This event should be attended by councillors, CEOs, and any local government personnel with a responsibility or interest in infrastructure, service, IT, finance and risk management.
The conference costs $495 (plus GST) for the first registration and $450 (plus GST) for subsequent attendees from the same council.
The conference program and registration details are available from www.mav.asn.au/asset2006
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