From the President
 If local government is to successfully meet the disparate transport needs of our communities in the foreseeable future, we need to work together like never before. And that means uniting our urban and regional road and transport agendas. The work we do on local government financing and infrastructure tells us we all have problems - whether our councils are remote, rural, regional or metropolitan. Where ever we look, councils are struggling to provide for the basic needs of our communities. Despite improved funding, local roads - the very building blocks of our communities - are still under pressure. In some communities, the key need is to get trucks off the roads and the freight onto trains. In other areas, it is getting people out of their cars and onto public transport. At Launceston last year, the congress came of age. Delegates from across Australia agreed to work together to achieve the outcomes that address the transport needs of all our communities. Delegates asked that a national local roads and transport strategy be prepared that will take us beyond Butcher and address the collective needs of our communities. The roads congress was formed at Moree because we needed a plan to address the needs of local roads. Six years have passed since then. We now need to work together to secure lasting solutions for our collective road and transport needs. As Benjamin Franklin said when signing the US Declaration of Independence, if we don't hang together, we will surely hang separately. I look forward to seeing you in Alice Springs for what I'm sure will be another landmark congress.
Cr Paul Bell AM
ALGA President
Study confirms pressure on council revenue
The international tax study released by the Treasurer last week - the so-called 'Wendy' report after authors Dick Warburton and Peter Hendy - has confirmed that local government in Australia has one of the lowest shares of taxation raised in the 30 OECD member nations. Local government raises only 2.9% of all taxation in Australia, with the federal government taking 68.1% and the states 29.0%. Local government's share was the fourth lowest of all OECD nations and the second lowest of the eight OECD nations with a federal system of government. The unweighted average for local government's share of taxation among OECD federations is 8.1%. Of all 30 OECD nations, only local government in Ireland (2.1%), Mexico (1%) and Greece (0.9%) has a lower share of tax revenue than Australia. Local government in Denmark has the highest share, gathering 35.7% of the tax take. The figures are contained in the Wendy report at appendix table 3.2.1 and are sourced from OECD revenue statistics published in 2005.
IGA "merely a step in right direction"
The shadow local government minister, Senator Kim Carr, says the intergovernmental agreement on cost shifting was "encouraging" yet "merely a first step in the right direction". Senator Carr said that the "the best guarantee of progress in Commonwealth/local government relations is for the Federal government to embrace the reality of partnership with local government and not simply mouth fine principles". There were many other areas that required urgent attention including the adequacy of current funding arrangements, the problems for local government created by vertical fiscal imbalance and the greater engagement of local government in addressing issues of urban growth and infrastructure requirements.
Future of NRM regional model
The Natural Resources Management Ministerial Council will today consider options for extending the future of regional NRM arrangements. The ministerial council is being asked to endorse a set of objectives and principles to guide future programs and a series of options papers will be presented. These will be further developed for the next meeting in November. A number of consultations have been undertaken to develop the papers and there have been several clear messages evolve from these discussion. There is good support for the continuation of the regional model and a strong message that early announcements of future funding are required to ensure a smooth transition to new arrangements after June 2008. ALGA is pressing for local government to be a central player in future programs.
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Moree to Alice: Congress gathering steam
From day one, the roads congress has been a fighting forum for local government transport needs. The first local roads congress was in 2000 in Moree, NSW, in a bid to get secure additional federal funding to address the deteriorating state of local roads. That congress established a steering committee to develop a plan to address the road funding crisis. That plan was set out in the Butcher Report. The Australian Government's Roads to Recovery program commenced with great fanfare in 2001, providing $1.2bn over four years for local roads. The 2001 congress was held in Mildura, Victoria, where the focus was on standardised data and asset management. The congress moved north to Toowoomba in 2002 as $100m of that year's R2R allocation was infamously "re-phased" by the Commonwealth to a later year. The fourth congress, held in Kalgoorlie, saw ALGA launch the campaign to renew R2R for a further four years. The renewal of the program was announced six months later. The 2004 congress, held in the Barossa Valley, focused on how the new R2R 'regional component' - announced as part of the AusLink program in July 2004 - would work, using one third of each council's allocation to make up a regional funding pool. After further lobbying, it was announced that councils would receive their full entitlement and the regional pool would instead be made up of a new allocation of $150m. Most of this was allocated by the Australian Government to specific projects in the lead up to the 2004 federal election. The 2005 congress - held in Launceston - embraced a broader local government transport agenda, uniting urban and regional transport agendas under the banner of the National Local Roads and Transport Congress. Delegates called on ALGA to develop a national local roads and transport strategy for consideration at the 2006 congress in Alice Springs. In November 2005, the Australian Government announced a further $100m would be added to the AusLink strategic regional program and allocated on a competitive bid basis. The Alice Springs congress will - in the spirit of Moree - look to the future of local government road and transport needs and how these might be funded.
Lloyd, O'Brien lead federal speakers list
Delegates will this year hear from Federal Local Government and Roads Minister Jim Lloyd and his opposition counterpart, shadow transport minister, Senator Kerry O'Brien. Since his appointment to the ministry in July 2004, Mr Lloyd has been a strong supporter of local government and local roads. Senator O'Brien is developing a transport policy for the Labor Party which will provide an alternative approach to AusLink. Labor has also released a discussion paper on urban issues which covers a range of transport issues. Delegates will also hear from consultant on strategic planning, futurist, broadcaster and commentator, Dr Keith Suter, who will discuss the essential ingredients for developing successful strategies.
Outback Highway projects approved
The task of upgrading priority sections of the remote 'Outback Highway' to all-weather standard across some of the harshest terrains of central and Western Australia will begin soon. Federal Local Government and Roads Minister, Jim Lloyd, has formally approved $7.5m in funding for eight of 10 proposed projects on the 2,800 km route between Winton in Queensland and Laverton in Western Australia. The projects to be funded were nominated by the Outback Highway Development Council, formed in 1997 and encompassing the Laverton Shire Council and the Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku (WA), the Docker River-Kaltukajaa Community (NT), the Alice Springs Town Council (NT), and the Boulia and Winton shires in Queensland.
Notice
EPBC Act Planner's guides available (free)
The Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Project is wrapping up at the end of June, and so is offering to post its last copies of its Guide for Planners to interested councils around the country. The guide has been written to help those involved in either local or regional landuse and natural resource planning integrate the EPBC Act into these processes and outcomes. The guides are free, and the Project will cover all postage costs. Mailouts of larger quantities possible. To order send an email to Tracey Rich at trich@wwf.org.au with the number you require, and your mailing address.
The Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act is the Australian Government's main piece of environmental protection / planning legislation, and applies across all states and territories. The guides are suitable for anyone in local government working in environment, NRM, sustainability, and planning.
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