ALGA News

From the President

The issues that confront us at the beginning of the 21st Century are proof positive of the adage: 'Think globally, act locally.' Modern communications and issues such as climate change underscore the interconnectness of communities and the importance of being part of the global village.

The world may have shrunk in some ways, with the internet and availability of reasonably affordable air travel, but what is happening at a local level is increasingly becoming a factor when grappling with these issues.

Whether it is attitudes towards recycling, water usage, carbon emissions, policy-makers are turning their attention towards influencing attitudes and behaviour by individuals and communities.

This is where local government comes in. At a grassroots level, no sphere of government is more representative of local communities than local councils. Local government is an important conduit of information from communities to government and can and does play a powerful role in communicating messages to local constituencies.

Local government is providing strong leadership on these issues of national significance. ALGA was represented at the Prime Minister's National Water Summit recently and has been invited to attend the Opposition Leader’s National Climate Change Summit at Parliament House on 31 March.

Both sides of politics recognize the crucial role local government plays in the federation - as a legitimate sphere of government in our democratic process.

This is why I and many others nearly choked on our breakfast cereal on the weekend at the editorial in 'The Sydney Morning Herald.'

The editorial said that state and federal politicians with competing agendas had tugged and twisted the constitutional demarcation of responsibilities until it had broken. Fair enough.

Then comes the crunch: "The government system should be slimmed from three tiers to two - local government would be removed, the states would provide services and policy would be set at the federal level."

Ouch! Local communities deserve better representation than that. With local government they get it.

The model advocated by the editorial writer would hardly address the most pressing issues facing our nation at this stage of our history. For these global issues, we need local solutions and these solutions must be provided with the support and leadership of local government, working with the states and the Commonwealth Government.

The editorial concludes that: "The first step in the process should be a constitutional convention to work out a division of powers. Australia's system is clearly broken; it is time to start fixing it."

Local government has long pressed for a clarification of its role through constitutional recognition and a strengthening of our position, rather than a weakening of it. We would welcome a constitutional convention. However, recommending the abolition of the sphere of government which is closest to, and most representative of our communities is misguided in the extreme.

Cr Paul Bell AM
ALGA President

First home buyers move to regional areas

A new housing industry report says first-time home buyers are moving to regional areas as housing in capital cities becomes more expensive.

The Housing Industry Association says population growth in regional areas has outstripped or equalled capital-city growth in Australia's three largest states in 2005 and 2006.

The association says moving into non-metropolitan areas has caused many people to give up their current jobs in the hope of finding a home to start a family.

In addition, the balance of residential building work is also moving out of capital cities and into non-metropolitan areas, with many building and population 'hotspots' being located in regional centres where housing is considerably more affordable.

For a copy of the full 80 page HIA Population and Residential Building Hotspots report please contact Kirsten Lewis on (02) 6245 1393 or k.lewis@hia.com.au

Meanwhile, Federal Labor said it would consider helping low-income earners get into the housing market if elected to Government.

Housing spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek said housing affordability had reached a crisis point and one of its solutions was a shared equity plan.

She said Labor would pay part of the purchasing cost and would later recover a portion of the sale price.

"I think it is one option that might help people on low incomes into the private housing market," Ms Plibersek said.

"On its own, it's not a solution to the whole problem of housing affordability but it may be one piece of the puzzle."

Adelaide Bank Ltd has launched a mortgage product that lets borrowers buy a 20 per cent of home without having to make interest payments. But borrowers would have to give up 40 per cent of any appreciation in the value of their home.

The product, patented as an Equity Finance Mortgage (EFM) is being distributed by Adelaide Bank and has been manufactured by Rismark International Ltd, which is 50 per cent owned by Macquarie Bank Ltd.

New controls on state road blowouts

The Australian Government has warned it will need to impose new controls on the way the states and territories manage road and rail projects under AusLink 2, the second phase of the Government’s national land transport plan.

Speaking at the 2007 ABARE Outlook conference, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Regional Services, Mark Vaile, said the new controls would need to stop the cost of road and rail projects from blowing out and make sure that Australian taxpayers get the best value for money from the Government's investment in land transport infrastructure.

He said that one in five of the AusLink projects completed so far had gone over budget by more than a million dollars.

"we are developing the second phase of our national land transport plan, AusLink 2, which will run from 2009-10 to 2013-14. We're not going to let that sort of blowout happen again. AusLink 2 will need to include three new rules to stop the cost of projects running out of control due to poor planning by the states and territories," he said.

He said his department would need to become more involved in generating the initial costing for projects rather than leaving it up to the states and territories.

The state and territory governments would need to contribute to the cost of all new projects, including projects on the former National Highway. The Australian Government's funding would need to be capped at a defined dollar figure for each project, which we will set just before the project goes to tender and the cost estimate has been calculated to the 90 per cent probability level.

Agreement on transfats

A Roundtable of Australian Quick Serve Restaurant industry representatives agreed today to a September timetable to draft plans to remove artificial transfats from their products.

The Assistant Minister for Health and Ageing, Christopher Pyne, who convened the roundtable, said he was delighted that the Quick Serve Restaurant industry had acted on this important public health initiative.

"There is a scientific link between the consumption of transfats and the risk factors for heart disease," Mr Pyne said. "Transfats not only increase bad cholesterol in our blood, a key indicator for heart disease, they may also decrease good cholesterol."

The Australia New Zealand Collaboration on Transfats, which consists of Food Standards Australia New Zealand, the National Heart Foundations of Australia and New Zealand, the Dietitians Association of Australia, the Australian Food and Grocery Council, the New Zealand Food and Grocery Council and the New Zealand Food Safety Authority, was formed in October 2006 with the important role of reducing damaging transfats in the food supply.

A fact sheet on transfats can be found on the Food Standards Australia New Zealand website

World's greatest shave

Six Holroyd City Council officers - all women - have agreed to either shave or colour their hair as part of the Leukaemia Foundation's national fundraising event, the World's Greatest Shave.

They hope to raise $5,000 for the care and aid of people living with leukaemias, lymphomas and myeloma.

The brave women will offer their locks for shaving/colouring on Thursday at noon in the piazza at Holroyd City Council - the piazza is the open area between the Merrylands Library and the foyer of the Council Chambers. The Chambers is at 16 Memorial Avenue, Merrylands, just 25km west of the CBD for those not familiar.

Those colouring their hair are even considering donning the Holroyd City brand - a nice mix of green, yellow and red!

Mayor Clr Dr John H Brodie said: "I encourage all local residents to come on board to help raise funds for this great event."

"The local community gains a great sense of satisfaction from becoming involved in this widely recognised event. They have been able to see the benefits to patients and families locally with funds raised contributing towards the introduction of a Support Services Coordinator and Patient Transport Service in the Holroyd area."

For more information about the organisers of the national event, please contact www.worldsgreatestshave.com

Drought assistance extended for south west Victoria

The Federal Government has extended full Exceptional Circumstances (EC) drought assistance to more than 8,700 farmers in south west Victoria until 31 March 2009.

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Peter McGauran, said the declaration covered around a third of the state and would provide up to $60 million in drought assistance to almost a quarter of Victoria's farmers and farm dependent small businesses.

The declaration extends EC income and business support to farmers and small businesses across 14 local government areas including major towns such as Horsham, Ararat, Hamilton, Warrnambool, Camperdown, and Colac.

It is adjacent to the Mallee Northern Wimmera and Central Victoria EC declared areas.

Small business operators employing up to 100 staff and who derive at least 70 per cent of their income directly from farmers within EC declared areas are now also eligible for assistance, even if their businesses are located outside the EC area.

"I urge farmers and small business operators not to self assess, but to contact the Drought Assistance Hotline on 13 23 16 to check their eligibility as soon as possible," Mr McGauran said.

Qld water battle

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie is facing a battle with local councils over a proposal for the state government to take control of water infrastructure.

Mr Beattie called on local councils to voluntarily hand over control of water or face new laws.

City and shire councils in the state's south-east have said they will campaign against a doubling of water charges, which Queensland's water commission has proposed to pay for $8 billion worth of new infrastructure.

Mr Beattie upped the stakes said the state government would seize control of water projects if councils did not cooperate.

He ruled out compensating councils if a takeover went ahead.

Local Government Association of Queensland president, Cr Paul Bell, has called for an urgent meeting with Premier Beattie in company with south-east Queensland mayors.

"We need to talk on the proposed takeover of council water assets, but repeated requests to meet with the premier have met with a blunt refusal," Cr Bell said. "It's most unusual in takeover bids for the targeted party not to be given the courtesy of contact."

"Despite Mr Beattie's mistaken and misdirected anger at councils over alleged failings on water infrastructure - a point of view which councils dispute with equal anger - councils are the legitimate third sphere of government in Queensland and the LGAQ is the peak body of its elected members," he said.

"Councils want a solution to this water crisis as much as the premier does. We simply want a fair deal and a fair go. Councils don't have the spare millions to run television advertisements promoting the good job we are doing solving the water crisis. We are just getting on with our job without fanfare and spending whatever money we have on necessary community projects."

Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, who is also the chairman of south-east Queensland's Council of Mayors, said a takeover would not work.

"We're opposed to a takeover because it's just the premier playing games," he said.

"The premier is doing everything he can to distract people from the core issue, which is the mayors saying families shouldn't have to cop $1,000 a year water bills."

In response to the worsening drought, the commission last Friday detailed level five water restrictions for south-east Queensland to take effect from April 10.

It also outlined dramatic increases in water charges, with prices recommended to rise by up to 147 per cent over the next five years.

This means a typical household's annual water charges would increase from about $355 per year to $876 a year by 2012.

Local Roads data acknowledgement

In relation to the article on Local Roads data in ALGA News of 9 March 2007, ALGA acknowledges the assistance given by the State Local Government Grants Commissions in collecting that information. We did not mean to give the impression that the information for the National Local Roads Data System (NLRDS) was a normal part of State Local Government Grants Commissions data collection. ALGA acknowledges that the data is being specifically requested by the State Local Government Grants Commissions to meet the requirements of the NLRDS.

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Speakers will talk about environmental and safety aspects of good design, the promoting of culture and community with the design envelope, and there will be a showcase of outstanding design outcomes including the Cairns Esplanade, the Kelvin Grove Village Development in Brisbane, and also how a small town has used urban design to project itself into the future.

Keynote speakers will include:

• Prof. Rob Adams, Director of Design
  [City of Melbourne]
• Craig Norman, GM of the Honeysuckle Development Corp
• Stuart Niven, City of Hume
• Kevin Taylor who will speak on Adelaide’s North Terrace Revitalisation and
• Jeff Gilmore, CEO of Hobart’s Sullivans Cove Waterfront Authority.

This is an important and significant conference: it will bring together the public and private practitioners of the best urban design and implementation in the country.

To see the program and register online
visit www.halledit.com.au
or call Denise McQueen on 03 8534 5000
or email denise.mcqueen@halledit.com.au

Cyclones George and Larry Relief

Additional staff are being sent to Centrelink offices in northern West Australia to help distribute funds to people affected by Cyclone George.

Human Services Minister Chris Ellison says the Centrelink office in Port Hedland was open and preparations were being made to send additional staff to help process claims for assistance.

The category four cyclone struck the coast east of Port Hedland on Thursday killing two people and leaving a trail of injuries and widespread damage in its wake.

Prime Minister John Howard said people seriously injured by Cyclone George or whose homes had been destroyed were eligible for a payment of a thousand dollars per adult and 400 dollars per child.

Meanwhile, the Queensland government today pledged $5.6 million to help councils in the area's affected by Larry to pay for repairs.

Under the natural disaster relief program, Johnstone shire would receive $1.9 million, Eacham shire $1.8 million, Cardwell shire $1.7 million and Herberton shire $132,950.

Premier Peter Beattie told state parliament four projects would also share almost $430,000 to repair heritage listed properties.

"As we approach the first anniversary of Cyclone Larry on March 20, it's time to look back at the disaster which struck a region two-thirds the size of Tasmania," Mr Beattie told state parliament.

"Larry caused such destruction of homes, schools, businesses and livelihoods that one year on our communities continue the massive task of rebuilding."

The government also tabled a report in parliament detailing the government's response to Larry over the past 12 months.

It revealed small businesses in the area had received more than $18 million in concessional loans while primary producers affected by the cyclone had benefited from $95 million in loans and grants.

e-Government Award for Excellence - showcase local government initiatives

Nominations for the e-Award close on 22 March 2007.

The e-Award was introduced last year by the Australian Government to promote excellence in the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in Australia at all levels of government.

In 2006, two local government agencies, Hobsons Bay City Council and Shellharbour City Council were recognised for their achievements and details of their projects subsequently featured in the Australian Government Information Management Office's recent publication Excellence in e-Government Awards: 2006 Finalist Case Studies.

The Awards will be presented at an ICT Celebration Dinner following the e-Government Forum at CeBIT Australia 2007 in Sydney on 2 May 2007. Safety calls for open mall March 10, 2007

KLAFIR Financial Sustainability Forum

ALGA President, Cr Paul Bell, addressed a delegation of senior local government officials from the Republic of Korea in Sydney on Friday 9 March. Cr Bell was the lead speaker at a forum on the financial sustainability of local government in Australia, organized by the Local Government and Shires Association (LGSA) of NSW, and hosted by the Korean Local Authorities Foundation for International Relations (KLAFIR).

The forum also heard from speakers representing the Australian Government, the NSW Government and the LGSA.

Cr Bell outlined for the Korean delegation the role and functions of local government in Australia, and provided an overview of the work done by ALGA in relation to financial sustainability - particularly the PricewaterhouseCoopers report, which was released in December 2006.

"While Korea has a vastly different system of local government to that which exists in Australia, this forum was an excellent opportunity to learn from international experience, to share our experience and to build relationships" Cr Bell said

"The forum heard from a number of speakers who presented different perspectives on local government sustainability in Australia. But the message is clear - without fundamental reform to the funding arrangements for local government in Australia, local communities will suffer."

Funding to preserve community heritage collections

The National Library is calling for applications for the 2007 Community Heritage Grants.

The grants of up to $15 000 are available to community groups around the country to help preserve and manage locally held nationally significant cultural heritage collections of documents and objects for future generations.

Activities supported include significance assessments, preservation surveys, purchase of archival storage, digitisation, conservation treatments and environmental control.

Collection management workshops for staff and volunteers from community organisations to improve their skills when working with heritage collections are also encouraged.

Representatives from historical societies, museums, public libraries, archives, and Indigenous and migrant community groups are encouraged to apply. Applications close on Friday 8 June 2007.

Over the past 14 years a combined total of over $2 million in funding has been provided to 506 projects. The 2007 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.

Information, guidelines and application forms are available at www.nla.gov.au/chg/

2007 National Local Government Asset Management Conference

The fourth National Local Government Asset Management Conference, organised by the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV), will be held at the Victorian Arts Centre on May 9 and 10, 2007.

Asset management is now assuming a central position in the national local government agenda and the pursuit of more sustainable funding for the sector. This Conference will cover a range of key issues of direct relevance to Councils including:

• National directions in sustainability and the implications for asset management
• Aligning engineering and financial asset management strategies
• Ensuring asset management is driven by identified community service levels
• Managing the asset renewal funding challenge
• Linking risk management and asset management
• Involving councillors in strategic asset management decisions
• The need to integrate asset management with long term financial planning
• Using standards and technology to improve data quality
• Numerous 'good practice' case studies
• Identifying common challenges for asset managers

The Conference will be participatory in nature and attendees will have opportunities to engage in interactive discussion with presenters on a variety of topics. The two days of the Conference will provide essential knowledge for Councillors, CEOs and a range of infrastructure, asset and corporate managers who need to have a strategic understanding of this complex function. To keep costs to participants to a minimum, there is a discount where more than two persons attend from the one Council. For online registration go to http://www.mav.asn.au/majorevents/lgam

Mandatory reporting of nursing home abuse

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is urging the Federal Government to change proposed legislation that introduces compulsory reporting of abuse in nursing homes.

The AMA supports the reporting of abuse by staff against residents, but is concerned the Bill also requires reporting of some cases where residents assault other patients or staff.

AMA president Mukesh Haikerwal says that could cause problems.

"There's a significant concern that that huge red tape burden that already exists within aged care facilities will blow out further with this," he said.

"The most important parts of this, which is the carer abusing the resident, is sort of left on the shelf and so much time is wasted on resident-on-resident and so on, when the resident might actually have dementia and then it's difficult to try and prove that."

Dr Haikerwal says the extra red tape for aged care providers could take the focus off protecting residents from abusive carers.

"We're concerned about people who have got dementia that's not diagnosed being caught up in the trap and being taken off for interviews or whatever inappropriately, and also resources being diverted down that road rather than resources going down the road to training the staff better and managing the behaviour better," he said.

A spokesman for the Minister for Ageing, Santo Santoro, says the Government is taking the AMA's views into account.

The Bill is scheduled to reach the Senate next week.

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STATE OF AUSTRALIAN CITIES

National Conference

Adelaide November 28 - 30 2007

Abstract submission deadline for LGNews subscribers is Friday 30th March 2007…

The third State of Australian Cities Conference will be held in Adelaide from 28 to 30 November 2007. The 2007 conference is co-organised by the University of South Australia, University of Adelaide and Flinders University.

The over-arching theme of the conference is:

Growth, Sustainability and Vulnerability of Urban Australia

The conference provides an opportunity for academics and practitioners to explore urban issues in Australia. The purpose of the conference is to report on current research into issues of urban and regional sustainability, to discuss the research with policy makers, to identify research gaps and to improve our understanding of the state of Australian cities. It will also contribute to the development of government officers by offering them a forum to critically discuss their research.

The Conference is aimed at:

1. advancing understanding between leading researchers about the state of Australian cities;
2. leading to a better understanding of the research needs of Australian cities;
3. providing those in the public and private sectors with a better appreciation of the current status of research and the capacities of researchers.

For further information on abstract submission and attendance, consult the conference website (http://www.unisa.edu.au/soac2007/) or contact the Organising Committee directly at soac2007@unisa.edu.au

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Melbourne, March 28-29 2007

The 2nd National Road Pavement Management & Engineering Conference in Melbourne will provide local government road engineers and managers with fresh insights and new perspectives into new and emerging issues in road construction, maintenance, asset management and contract management.

This two-day conference on March 28 and 29, at Melbourne's Carlton Crest Hotel, will hear presentations on a range of relevant case studies from councils including Glenorchy, Gosford, Coffs Harbour, Mornington Peninsula, Corangamite, Melbourne City, and Latrobe City.

Leading experts from a number of disciplines including: asset evaluation and road performance modelling, surfacing, pavement design, road maintenance, contract management, linemarking, water in the road reserve, work site safety, and water sensitive design will address this important event. Climate change and water scarcity are examined in the technical sessions.

There will be concurrent technical and management streams, allowing delegates to choose the topics and speakers which are of most relevance to their immediate concerns.

The conference - which follows on from the highly successful 2006 forum - is being actively supported and endorsed by industry and professional bodies including the IPWEA, the AAPA, AustStab, the Roadmarking Industry Association, the CCF, the Australian Road Forum and the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects.

The National Conference - which incorporates the 3rd Victorian Roads Conference - provides an ideal opportunity for engineers and managers to receive up-to-minute information about best practice and technical road issues in a collaborative environment with their local government and industry peers.

For the full conference details please visit www.halledit.com.au

For registration enquiries, please contact Denise McQueen on 03 8534 5021 or email denise.mcqueen@halledit.com.au

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Promoting local government

News & Features Network DVDs

Two of Australia's most experienced award-winning media operators have come together to offer a new promotional tool to local government.

Paul Lewer of the News & Features Network and Jim Brown of Stanza Television are producing DVDs for various national clients.

These DVDs are proven marketing tools. Satisfied clients include the Victorian Mountain Cattlemen, the Maton Guitar Company and the Australian Greenhouse office. Victoria's Loddon Shire is the latest national client. And the DVDs have purposes other than tourism. Paul and Jim point out they can be crafted to promote a local government area's advantages for new businesses.

For more information contact:

• Paul Lewer
• features@cyberone.com.au
• Mob: 0418223495.
• http://users.cyberone.com.au/features/nfn/