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2007 Local Roads and Transport Congress

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The President of the Australian Local Government Association, Cr Paul Bell, has urged all political parties in the lead-up to the Federal election to commit to a road and transport agenda to address problems of greenhouse gas emissions, urban congestion, freight management and pollution in our cities, as well as meeting the access and transport needs of regional and rural communities.

Speaking at the National Local Roads and Transport Congress in Newcastle (July 8-10) attended by more than 400 delegates from councils across Australia, Cr Bell called on our national leaders to work with local government to deliver safe, efficient, effective, equitable and sustainable transport services and infrastructure throughout Australia.

He also specifically called on state governments to fully meet their funding obligations and responsibilities to deliver outcomes for Australian communities.

Cr Bell said the Local Government Roads and Transport Strategy discussed by the Congress identified five core areas which need to be addressed: Local road funding and management; urban transport solutions; mobility and access for regional Australians; freight management and long-term financial sustainability for local government.

"Delegates welcomed the commitment by the Government and the Opposition to the Roads to Recovery and Blackspots Programs," Cr Bell said. "These are of huge significance for communities throughout Australia and local government has demonstrated it has the capacity to deliver tangible outcomes for the people we represent.

"However, we are keen to move the debate to areas of growing concern, particularly urban transport issues which present a major challenge and affect the quality of life of Australia's 13m city-dwellers. These issues have been neglected and require leadership and cooperation between the three spheres of government. It is imperative they are not just pushed into the 'too-hard basket.'

Delegates recognized that the collective decisions of local government will impact significantly and called for national leadership and for all political parties to commit to policies that will deliver:

  1. Permanent funding arrangements for local government to ensure a well managed and sustainable local road system that provides appropriate access and levels of service for all communities and the benefit of industry;
  2. Transport systems in urban areas that provide a balance between urban amenity, freight efficiency and viable alternatives to the use of private motor vehicles;
  3. Equitable access, particularly to essential services, through integrated planning and the provision of appropriate transport services for all rural and regional communities;
  4. Efficient movement of freight vehicles through local communities in a way which recognises community concerns for safety and amenity; and
  5. The long-term financial sustainability of local road and transport systems.

The full Communique from the Congress is available on the ALGA website: www.alga.asn.au/policy/transport/congress/2007/04.communique.php

Vaile and Lloyd address Congress

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The Minister for Transport and Regional Services, Mark Vaile, urged councils to be vigilant about their auditing and accountability practices to guarantee continued support in Cabinet for the Roads to Recovery and Blackspot programs.

"..You would all be aware that the Australian National Audit Office recently conducted two studies into the Roads to Recovery and the Black Spot programs," he said in his speech at the 2007 National Local Roads and Transport Congress.

"While the ANAO found no evidence of fraudulent activity, it did however raise questions relating to the project's administration and implementation.

"If I am to be an effective advocate in Cabinet for continuation of these programs without the imposition of more stringent administrative arrangements from Canberra, local government needs to stick to the established processes.

"You need to ensure that funding, when made available, is deployed as quickly as possible so costs don't blow out. There are examples in our region here on the mid north coast of some councils taking 12 months to begin work after approval. The same principle applies to the Strategic Regional Program."

Minister Vaile (pictured with ALGA President Cr Bell and Newcastle Mayor John Tate) said in conclusion that the Australian Government is "working more closely with local government than ever before."

"The Australian Government's funding to local government is at record levels. We are investing billions of dollars under AusLink into upgrading Australia's major road and rail links. And we are making Australia's transport system more efficient and productive, which will benefit us all."

The Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads, Jim Lloyd, was praised by ALGA President Cr Paul Bell for his support for the Local Community Infrastructure Renewals Fund and for his "open door policy" in relation to local government.

Minister Lloyd said he was aware of ALGA's campaign to reform the Financial Assistance Grants and the case for a direct proportion of at least 1% of federal taxation revenue and would continue to press the issue among his Ministerial colleagues. Both the Ministers said it was important not to overlook the responsibilities of the states to deliver transport outcomes for Australian communities. Minister Lloyd also emphasized the important role that local government has in responding to emergencies and natural disasters.

Labor commits to matching Government funding on Roads to Recovery and Blackspot Programs

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The Shadow Minister for Transport, Roads and Tourism, Martin Ferguson, has committed Labor to match the Coalition's Roads to Recovery and Blackspot funding in terms of dollars and duration of programs. In the recent Budget, the Howard Government has extended Roads to Recovery and Blackspot Programs until 2014 and increased the funding for both programs.

"Federal Labor is firmly committed to the retention of the National Network, Blackspot, Strategic Regional and Roads to Recovery Programs," Mr Ferguson said in his speech to the 2007 Local Roads and Transport Congress. Following a question from ALGA vice-president Cr Bill Mitchell, Mr Ferguson said Labor supported the continuation of Roads to Recovery and Blackspot programs "side by side and dollar for dollar."

In her address on Monday, the Shadow Minister for Local Government, Senator Kate Lundy, said that Labor if elected to government would "require localism to be at the heart of all national agendas whether it be in transport and infrastructure, broadband, the environment, health or education."

"In our National Platform, Labor recognizes that costs to local government have increased and we point to the need to examine ways to redress the funding shortfall suffered by local government," she said. Senator Lundy said that Labor was also committed through its National Platform to Constitutional recognition of local government.

Last week, Labor Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd said that Labor was "working our way through" considering local government’s infrastructure needs. "Labor will have more to say in coming months about how it will improve the dialogue and communication with local government in the lead-up to and beyond the referendum."

Senator Lundy said that Labor was "looking seriously" at ALGA's proposal for a Local Community Infrastructure Renewals Fund.
From the President

Australia still suffers from the 'Tyranny of Distance' - a term coined by historian Geoffrey Blainey. A report launched this week for the Committee for Economic Development in Australia examining our economic competitiveness shows that in a country where no two cities with a population of more than one million are within 600km of each other, that transport continues to be one of our greatest challenges. Transport and roads connecting affordable housing with job centres has also been raised in the context of the affordable housing debate.

Having a good transport system, as well as connecting economies and ensuring goods reach export markets, is crucial in terms of the social and physical well-being of communities. I remember former Transport Minister John Anderson when Roads to Recovery was being formulated saying that he was most touched by a mother describing the plight of families taking their kids to school or to the nearest shops having to drive across kilometres of slow and dangerous dirt roads.

This challenge was faced square on in Newcastle from July 8-10 by the more than 400 delegates from councils across Australia who attended the successful 2007 National Local Roads and Transport Congress. The Congress was hosted by the City of Newcastle with Mayor John Tate providing a warm welcome.

Delegates heard from speakers on a range of transport topics of interest to local government. The agenda for the Congress this year, in line with its expanded role of covering all transport topics of interest to local government, was widened to extend beyond the traditional road and road transport issues to include: the impact of global warming on transport, alternative fuels, cycling, urban transport initiatives, mobility and access issues, regional aviation and rail.

It is clear from the presentations made at the Congress that both the Government and the Opposition are committed to the continuation of the Roads to Recovery Program and the Blackspots Programs, at the announced increased levels of funding to 2014. Delegates welcomed this bipartisan commitment to local roads.

A Communiqué was developed that calls on all political parties in the lead up to the Federal election to commit to election policies that incorporate a broadly-based roads and transport agenda to deliver safe, efficient, effective, and equitable transport services and infrastructure throughout Australia and that this objective will be best achieved by a partnership with local government. The Communiqué calls on all political parties to commit to 17 specific proposals to meet these objectives. The proposals are grouped under the five key strategies of the Local Roads and Transport Strategy: Local road funding and management; Urban transport solutions; Mobility and access for regional Australians; Freight management and long-term financial sustainability for local government. Delegates also called on state governments to fully meet their funding obligations and responsibilities to deliver transport outcomes for Australian communities.

The Congress concluded with the announcement of Shepparton, Victoria as the venue for the 2008 Congress to be held on 6-8 July 2008.

Despite the distances they covered and some of the far-flung parts of Australia delegates hailed from, and some airline scheduling problems, local government came out in force to show that they will not be deterred, but rather motivated to overcome the challenges of our geographical isolation.

Cr Paul Bell AM
ALGA President

More than 5 million Australians do voluntary work: ABS

Results from the national 2006 Voluntary Work Survey released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)show that 5.2 million people (34%)of the Australian population aged 18 years and over participate in voluntary work. They contributed 713 million hours to the community across diverse activities. Women volunteered more commonly than men (36% compared to 32%) and, with few exceptions, this was the case regardless of birthplace, family status, labour force status or the areas in which they lived.

Keep Australia Beautiful Week

Local councils nationally are being urged to get involved with Keep Australia Beautiful Week activities to help tackle Australia's rising greenhouse gas emissions and electronic waste (e-waste) challenges.

Keep Australia Beautiful Week (KAB Week) runs from Monday 27 August - Sunday 2 September 2007 and will continue with its 'Save the World. Start at Home' theme.

As part of this, councils are being invited to register to run one or more of the official KAB Week activities in their local area and encourage residents to get involved through local media coverage and promotion of the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Replace message.

Activities include organising a local 'MobileMuster' to help recycle the 15.5 million old and broken mobile phones stashed away in cupboards and drawers across Australia, or introducing a Cartridge World reuse program at council offices to help reduce the 5,000 tonnes of printer cartridges sent to landfill each year.

Schools and offices can set themselves a litter-free challenge during the week to help keep litter off the streets and divert waste from landfill, whilst all households are also being asked to replace two standard light globes with energy saver globes.

For further information about Keep Australia Beautiful Week, or to register to get involved, please visit www.startathome.com.au

Ratepayers hit with cost shifting

NSW councils and their communities are being hit with bills of up to $1.2 million for the 2008 local government elections, in what the Local Government and Shires Associations of NSW describe as 'brazen cost shifting' by the State Government.

Councils will be forced to pay the NSW Electoral Commission up to four times more than 2004 - without explanation for the astronomical cost increases.

The State Government will demand Blacktown city ratepayers pay $1.19 million, up from $460,000; Campbelltown $649,000, up from $195,000; Camden $230,000 up from $150,000; and Nambucca $93,400, up from an anticipated $60,000.

"This is a classic case of cost shifting from the State Government, and has been passed on to NSW communities without explanation or apology," President of the Local Government Association of NSW, Cr Genia McCaffery said.

President of the Shires Association, Cr Bruce Miller, said many of the councils can't afford the increase.

"25% of councils in this state are already struggling financially, and these increases mean that funds set aside for crucial infrastructure maintenance will be lost to election administration," Cr Miller said.

Nomination of convict sites for World Heritage listing

The NSW Government is working with the Australian, WA and Tasmania governments and Lord Howe Island Board to nominate 11 convict sites for World Heritage listing. The four sites in NSW are: Old Government House and its domain in Parramatta Park; Old Great North Road, in the Dharug National Park, near Wiseman's Ferry; Hyde Park Barracks, Macquarie Street, Sydney; and, Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour. The World Heritage guidelines require appropriate protection of the sites and their settings. To achieve this the Department is preparing a State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP), which will identify a buffer zone for each NSW convict site to ensure that any activity within the buffer zones that may impact on its world heritage values is fully considered by the Heritage Council of NSW. It is expected that the draft SEPP will be available for public comment in due course. Read more: www.heritage.nsw.gov.au/07_subnav_
23_20070625.htm

Nominate your local heroes for Aussie of the Year

The Prime Minister, John Howard, has called on all Australians to nominate outstanding people in their communities for the Australian Of The Year award.

As well as Australian Of The Year, there are awards for Young Australian Of The Year aged 16 to 25; Senior Australian Of The Year for those aged 60 and over, and Australia's Local Hero.

The first person to be nominated for 2008 Australian of the Year is Peter Langmack, a 35-year-old teacher at Shalvey Public School in western Sydney.

He's been nominated for his efforts in helping disadvantaged children achieve their dreams through softball.

The Prime Minister is encouraging everyone to think of people they know who do extraordinary things in everyday life.

Nomination forms are available by phoning 1300 655 193 or by going online at www.australianoftheyear.gov.au.

Local Govt Releases Climate Change Guide

The Local Government Association of Queensland has released a guide to support Queensland councils to respond to emerging climate change threats. The guide is believed to be the first of its kind in Australia.

"We recognised that we should take the lead in this area," LGAQ president, Cr Paul Bell said. "We have come up with a guide which provides a practical, step-by-step process for councils to identify risks associated with climate change and put in place adaptive plans to address them.

"Much of the climate change debate to date has focussed on emissions control. However, the new guide presents climate change as something that is inevitable and concentrates on what other practical steps can be taken by councils to prepare for the future," Cr Bell said.

The guide aims to help in building the capability of councils to assess risks related to climate change and offers a checklist of possible adaptation measures. It also includes case studies of councils that have implemented simple action plans to help them avoid the risks posed by climate change.

An advisory group, which included representatives from the Australian Greenhouse Office, the state government, Insurance Australia Group, Queensland Resources Council, Commerce Queensland and local government councillors and officers, was established to help with the development of the guide.

A copy of the guide is available on: http://www.lgaq.asn.au/LGOnline/includes
/printthispage.jsp?path=/lgaq/publications
/ClimateChange.html&banner=1&circular=
0&publishDate

ALGA attends Online and Communications Council Meeting

Councillor Paul Braybrooks represented ALGA President Paul Bell AM at the 14th Online and Communications Council (OCC) meeting recently.

The OCC operates as the peak ministerial forum across governments to consider and reach agreement on strategic approaches on information and communications issues of a national importance.

Key issues for local government discussed at the meeting included the Australian Government's planned roll-out of high-speed broadband infrastructure, and their commitment to internet filtering technology at public libraries.

In relation to broadband, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Coonan, briefed the OCC on the Government’s proposed roll-out of broadband infrastructure through the joint venture operator OPEL.

OCC Ministers also noted that the Expert Taskforce appointed to oversee the assessment process for a new high speed broadband network in capital cities and major regional areas will undertake public consultation on draft guidelines, including with state, territory and local governments at the national level, prior to their finalisation.

ALGA maintained local government's strong position in relation to the provision of high speed broadband services, restating the following objectives:

  • Extended coverage - local government's objective is 100 per cent coverage for all councils
  • Extension to those that have no service rather than duplication - money should be allocated to areas that have no service before increasing competition in some areas
  • Service standards need to support basic business applications
  • Continuity of service at affordable prices - ideally universal pricing, with limitations on monopoly pricing

During discussion on the issue of internet filtering at public libraries, ALGA noted that policy decisions such as the provision of internet access, access protocols and the use of internet filters are the responsibility of individual councils and their libraries

ALGA is working closely with Australian Library Information Association (ALIA) on strategies to address the problems associated with children accessing inappropriate material through public library internet facilities.

The OCC considered how jurisdictions can work together to encourage authorities, including libraries, to maintain and enhance systems that support children in the responsible use of Internet access in public facilities. The OCC will keep this matter under on-going review, as technology evolves.

The communiqué for the meeting was released on Tuesday July 10 and can be read in full at www.occ.gov.au/releases/fourteenth_online_and
_communications_council_communique

Immigration, Citizenship and our Multicultural Society

The Ministerial Council on Immigration and Multicultural Affairs met in Townsville on 6 July 2007. The meeting was chaired by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Kevin Andrews, and was attended by ministerial representatives from the State and Territory Governments, the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, the New Zealand Government and the Australian Local Government Association.

The Council affirmed its commitment to a multicultural society which promotes the sharing of cultures, participation and recognising strength in cultural diversity. Ministers also and discussed a range of important national matters including: skilled migration, the proposed citizenship test currently before the Commonwealth Parliament; settlement services, research and initiatives supporting a multicultural society. Further information on the outcomes of the meeting can be found on the Minister's website

Rudd wants to put housing development application process online

The development application process for home builders and renovators would be able to be tracked online under a federal Labor proposal.

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd said delays in the application process are adding up to 15 per cent to the cost of a house.

"We need to do something about that and we need to do something about it on a national basis," Mr Rudd told reporters in Adelaide this week.

"Therefore, what we're proposing is putting online an ability to monitor and track your development approval process as it works its way through the local authority undertaking the development approval process."

ALGA President Cr Paul Bell said Labor's approach was consistent with a commitment by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to working towards achieving a national approach for tracking development applications on-line.

Tasmania - Pre-Election Workshops

The Local Government Association of Tasmania (LGAT), in conjunction with the Local Government Office and the Tasmanian Electoral Commission, will be running a series of free information seminars for people who are interested in standing at the Local Government elections to be held later this year: Burnie, 7 August; Launceston 8 August; and Hobart, 9 August. To reserve a seat, or for enquiries about becoming an elected member, please contact the Local Government Association of Tasmania on 6233 5966 or email admin@lgat.tas.gov.au.

New TV series sure to be a hit!

BBC One has commissioned "The Planners", a fiery, funny and touching new fly-on-the-wall documentary series that will give viewers a unique glimpse inside some of Britain's local planning authorities from Scottish independent IWC Media.

IWC Media, part of the RDF Media Group, have gained full access to a number of council planning departments, including those of Barnet and Barking & Dagenham Councils.

Each of the eight 30 minute shows will follow the trials and tribulations of the councils' officers in planning, building control and planning enforcement.

Every day brings new challenges from cheeky extension plans which would deprive a neighbour of their natural light which the planning officers have to make a decision on, to the illegally built granny annexe at the end of someone's garden which the planning enforcement officers are going to have demolished.

Nothing evokes more emotion than when the environment in which you live is threatened with change, and the planning office staff appear as heroes or villains in equal measure.

From mobile phone masts to residential developments of over 60 flats, from the vexed question of satellite dishes to the thorny issue of garden sheds, each programme will feature a range of stories which will be resolved in each episode.

Emma Willis, Executive Producer for the BBC, said: "With so many people improving their homes it's a great time to lay bare the ups and downs of domestic planning in Britain.

Quote of the week

"All politics is local."
Tip O'Neill, former Speaker, US House of Representatives

International news  

Two billion rats are on the march in central China, destroying farmland and posing a health risk to humans after fleeing their flooded homes.

The rats have spread out across 20 counties in central Hunan province, gnawing on crops and roots as they search for new homes, the China Daily said today.

Locals have launched a massive counter-attack, beating rats to death with shovels and spreading out loads of poison. One district reported that residents there had killed 2.3 million rats alone.

"It's like the mopping up by enemy troops in wars. We have nothing left," the paper quoted resident Yin Xinjin, 65, saying about the devastated farmland.

The rat plague began on June 23 when floods lifted the water level on Dongting Lake, submerging the ratholes on the islands there, according to the paper.

"It is the largest rat disaster the lakeside region has experienced in the last 10 years," a local government official, Peng Zaizhi, was quoted as saying.

While there have as yet been no major impacts on human health, local governments are taking no chances.

"The current focus is on educating the villagers in protecting themselves while killing the rats, and supervising the local health situation," Peng said. (AFP)

State of the Regions report 2006-07