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Senator Boswell attacks plan to amalgamate indigenous councils

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Nationals Senator Ron Boswell has hit out at the Beattie Government's planned amalgamation of indigenous councils in Queensland's far-north, saying it is a recipe for disaster.

Queensland's 32 indigenous councils are particularly concerned about the issue of land ownership in the event of a merger between one or more Aboriginal communities, Senator Boswell said.

Most Aboriginal community land is held under a Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT) by the local indigenous councils, he said.

Senator Boswell called on Premier Peter Beattie to explain how land deeds would be dealt with in the event of council mergers.

The Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) says Queensland Labor MPs have refused to support local councils holding referendums on forced amalgamations.

LGAQ President Paul Bell wrote to state MPs earlier this month asking them to indicate their views. The LGAQ has advised the angry councils facing forced mergers that they can lawfully hold referendums on August 18 to give voters a say on the state government-initiated reforms.

Premier Peter Beattie has vowed to block the polls, calling them a waste of ratepayers' money. Mr Bell said apart from Gaven MP Phil Gray on the Gold Coast, who he described as "the only ALP state MP prepared to buck the party line and at least have an open mind", the Labor MPs have dismissed the option.

"All other ALP state MPs have turned their back on their communities' rights to have a say in referendums on August 18," he said.

The Local Government Reform Commission is due to report to the government on August 1, with legislation to follow shortly after and new boundaries put in place early next year.

Cr Bell is particularly concerned at the impact of amalgamation on outback communities, which threaten local services, jobs and the identity of small towns.

ALGA calls for continuation of Emergency Management Grants

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ALGA Board Member Cr Bob Abbot has urged the Australian Government to continue funding local government's emergency management efforts through the Working Together to Manage Emergencies initiative. Cr Abbot was responding to the announcement of successful grant recipients by the Federal Attorney General, Philip Ruddock. Mr Ruddock announced details of 423 projects to receive more than $13.8 million under the program in 2007-08. The announcement brings the total number of projects funded under the program to more than 1200.

"Local government is there before an emergency happens, helping communities to prepare. Local government is there during the emergency, helping communities to cope, and local government is there after the emergency helping communities to recover," said Cr Abbot. "Direct funding of councils through this program makes a major difference to volunteers and workers on the ground so often forgotten. Such a vital program needs continuing support."

More than 180 councils throughout Australian will benefit from funding under the program which is in its fourth and final year. Projects range from under $3,000 for a Recovery Centre Establishment Kit for Waratah/Wynyard Council in Tasmania to $195,000 for regional disaster management training for environmental health practitioners for the Brisbane City Council. Details of the successful applicants can be found on the Emergency Management Australia website at www.ema.gov.au/communitydevelopment

Flannery keynote speaker at NGA

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The 2007 Australian of the Year, Tim Flannery, will be one of the keynote speakers at the National General Assembly to be held in Darwin from 26-29 November. Registrations are now open on www.nga.alga.asn.au

Professor Flannery, prominent scientist and climate activist, spoke at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday and warned that the planet only had about 10 years to avert dangerous climate change. He said global warming was the biggest challenge facing this generation and 'we need to invent new ways of engaging each other."

He said that in the short-term, apart from investing in renewable energies, clean coal technology and developing an increasingly streamlined transport sector, reductions in greenhouse emissions could be made by implementing the following three measures: a national population policy, good government regulation to protect consumers, and better motor vehicle standards and efficiency measures.

He was critical of the major political parties for failing to provide adequate detail of their policies on climate change, including information on targets and how these will be achieved.

This week the Prime Minister, John Howard, announced a new program of green vouchers for schools to improve energy and water efficiency, as part of a $627 million suite of measures to tackle global warming. Under the proposal every school in Australia would be eligible for a voucher of up $50,000 to help install solar hot water systems and rainwater tanks. Details on: www.environment.gov.au/programs/greenvouchers/index.html

The Prime Minister also announced a Solar Hot Water Rebate of $1000 per system on top of the eight-thousand dollar rebate for households to install solar panels. It is available to households with income of less than $100,000 per annum who are replacing an existing electric storage hot water system. The solar hot water system must be one which qualifies for at least 20 renewable energy certificates under the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target. Details on: www.greenhouse.gov.au/solarhotwater/index.html

Mr Howard said the Government favoured a 'cap and trade' emissions trading system. which would deliver environmental outcomes while maintaining economic competitiveness and protecting jobs in emissions-intensive industries. Legislation will be introduced this year for a national emissions and energy reporting system to underpin emissions trading. Further information on an Australian Emissions Trading Scheme is available on: www.pmc.gov.au/publications/climate_policy/index.cfm
From the President

The National Local Roads and Transport Congress last week provided an important opportunity to highlight local government's record in delivering roads and services to local communities. In his speech, the Minister for Transport and Regional Services, Mark Vaile, said that the Government invests heavily through local government because it is the best entity to get money spent with work on the ground in communities as soon as possible. "While we are running one of the most prosperous economies in the world, we need to continue our investment in infrastructure," he said.

ALGA is committed to broadening its partnership with the Australian Government beyond road infrastructure to include the renewal of community infrastructure. The Roads Congress provided a platform for us to pursue the important initiative of a Local Government Community Infrastructure Renewals Fund (LCIRF) with the major parties.

This proposal received a boost with public comments of support by Local Government Minister Jim Lloyd in the "Financial Review" and statements of endorsement from Shadow Minister Senator Kate Lundy in her speech at the Roads Congress.

Local government's proposal for a $250m 4-year Fund, as recommended by the PricewaterhouseCoopers report into local government financing, is a targeted, much-needed initiative to focused on addressing the issue of local government and community sustainability. We see it as helping councils to take the pressure off their infrastructure budgets - the backlog of which nationally is $14.5 billion. That means that not only will local communities directly benefit by improved sporting and recreational facilities, councils will be able to allocate more funding from their budgets to meet other infrastructure challenges. Some more-recent proposals for infrastructure being mooted in the public arena by various groups lack the focus and underlying rigorous analysis of local government's proposal.

Councils all over Australia such as Palerang, which featured in "The Daily Telegraph", have inadequate sporting facilities. In Palerang this is particularly acute with the population growing due to an influx of new residents and young families, mainly associated with the building of a new defence facility in the area. Councils must continue to demonstrate the need for the LCIRF and this underpins the fact that the campaign is largely community-driven and community-based.

We now have over 700 entries on the Local Community Infrastructure Ideas Register on our website and I thank in particular our State and Territory Associations for publicising the Fund. It is important we emphasise the community need for projects. I was also delighted with the coverage we received in "The Land" this week - it all helps build the momentum. When Parliament resumes, I plan to continue lobbying backbenchers and key Ministers to keep the pressure up.

I call on all councils and State and Territory Associations to continue to provide examples of failing community infrastructure and to illustrate their impact on rural and urban communities throughout the country. We will be highlighting the LCIRF in our election document and presenting all major parties with a summary of the Register and the types of projects that could be funded under this initiative.

As yet, there are no iron-clad guarantees but we have received encouragement from our political leaders who recognize the importance of maintaining and renewing ageing community facilities and ensuring that the health and well-being of our communities is a national priority, well beyond politics and point-scoring. I am impressed with the fact that ALGA is being listened to and the cry from our communities is being heard all the way to Canberra through the strong advocacy of their elected representatives, the State and Territory Associations, and with the assistance of the fourth estate, the media.

Cr Paul Bell AM
ALGA President

Councils outperform corporates

Insync Surveys has released benchmarked staff survey results for nine best practice local governments from across Australia. The group achieved a weighted performance index score of 67.05% compared to private sector organisations with 65.61% and public sector organisations at 64.73%.

Some of the councils featured have formed the Australian Local Government Business Excellence Network that meets bimonthly in Melbourne. It has leadership representation from Port Stephens Council, City of Wodonga, Shire of Campaspe, Murrindindi Shire Council, Hobart City Council, Mildura Rural City Council and Bass Coast Shire Council. Insync Surveys has also worked with Colac Otway Shire and Knox City Council and their results have also been included in this top weighted performance index score.

By measuring the gap between expectations and reality, Insync Surveys has helped these councils identify improvement opportunities. The gaps shows that many of the councils can improve on: keeping and valuing employees, providing incentives and rewards, demonstrating trust, providing career opportunities, leadership demonstrated by senior management, pay and conditions, and providing for employees' health and wellbeing.

For Mildura Rural City Council, incentives and rewards has been an area of focus. Port Stephens Council has focused its efforts on keeping and valuing employees. John Wynen, Organisation Development Manager at Bass Coast Shire Council, said: "Keeping skilled employees and providing incentives and rewards has also been our focus over the past year. Externally, we're passionate about creating rewarding careers for our staff and boosting the profile of local government as a good employer to assist with attracting and retaining skilled employees."

NSW - Planning Powers

Planning Minister Frank Sartor is using local government as a scapegoat to justify removing planning powers from communities, according to the Local Government and Shires Associations of NSW.

Minister Sartor has released the Local Government Performance Monitoring Report 2005-06, and is using it to validate a major overhaul of the NSW planning system.

"Minister Sartor is grandstanding on council DA processing times to direct the blame to councillors and justify his intention to centralise planning power in Macquarie Street," President of the Local Government Association of NSW, Cr Genia McCaffery said.

"Councillors only deal with 5% of DAs - a fact confirmed in the Minister's own report. The ones they do deal with are usually complex or controversial. To say councillors should not debate these DAs or 'get objectors in a room and solve it in half an hour', as he suggested this morning, is short sighted and unrealistic.

"Local Government accepts that there is the need to improve the planning system, but it is unfair to lay the blame solely at the feet of councils.

"The report identifies that the performance of State Government concurrence agencies and applicants also needs to be addressed, as does the shortage of skilled planners."

President of the Shires Association of NSW, Cr Bruce Miller, said the report is flawed.

"The report demonstrates the complexity of the planning system and the many factors that come into play," Cr Miller said.

"But while it focuses on the 20 councils taking the longest time to process DAs, if you do the maths, 87% of councils processed applications in a net median time within the 40 day limit."

Registration to the MAV Local Government Technology Solutions Conference Closing Soon - Wednesday 1 August

The Local Government Technology Solutions, a conference specifically for local government, will be held from Thursday 9 - Friday 10 August at Sofitel Melbourne. The conference will focus on innovative IT solutions and emerging technologies and services to achieve more effective business results.

The agenda will appeal to local government CEOs, senior managers in local government and State Government with responsibilities in finance, communications and technology, IT and knowledge management.

For further information, contact Ann Tok, 9667 5557, atok@mav.asn.au

Newcastle to collect flood information

Newcastle City Council will be recording flood levels and surveying residents in affected suburbs of the Newcastle Local Government Area to help manage future flash flooding.

General Manager Janet Dore says residents in the local area can provide key information about the storm and flooding on the June long weekend.

"Information such as water levels, if some areas had higher water levels than other areas and observed drain blockages will be invaluable for future planning."

"The survey teams will initially mark flood water levels and collect information from local residents."

Family and Community Services Policy

The ALP has announced a range of policy initiatives that it says it will implement if it is successful at the next federal election.

The recent announcement states that "a Rudd Labor Government will create an Office of Work and Family within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. It will be established to give the Prime Minister direct involvement in the formulation of policies to get the balance right between work and family life for Australians".

This Office will be charged with addressing such issues as work and family balance in the workplace and examining ways to reduce financial pressures on Australian families including housing affordability, the rising cost of groceries, petrol and child care.

The ALP has identified the need to ensure that there is a quality childcare system available for those parents who wish to return to work and has announced a program aimed at cutting the waiting lists for child care places by creating 260 new child care centres, and creating preschool places for all four year olds through an investment of $450 million to give every Australian four-year old the right to fifteen hours of high quality preschool every week.

The ALP has also announced a number of education measures aimed at increasing the number qualified childcare workers including; 1,500 new university places in early childhood education, payment of half the HECS costs of early childhood educators working in areas of need; and removal of TAFE or training fees for childcare diplomas to ease the qualified staff shortage.

MenSheds Australia

Mensheds Australia, is a not for profit organisation which aims to collaborate with local and indigenous communities to add support and encouragement to the development of effective programs for men. It aims to help communities to develop men's shed as a place for all men to meet, have fun and do practical things.

It is operated with the financial support of the Department of Health and Ageing, and as part initial work to promote the program in rural and regional Australia it will be visiting 18 rural and remote local and indigenous communities across Australia.

The first program will include visits to Charleville, Longreach, Emerald and Longreach. Mensheds Australia will run workshops in each centre. The aim of these workshops is to grow the Mensheds network by discussing and sharing experiences, successes and problems. The workshops will explore the relevance of the men's shed concept for each community, and identify where we they can provide appropriate support for the development of men's sheds in each region.

For further information please visit the website www.mensheds.com.au or contact Martin Smee on (02) 6296 5822 or email msmee@mensheds.com.au

The dates for the first round of visits and workshops are:

Charleville 14 & 15 August: Workshop, 15 August.
Longreach 16 & 17 August: Workshop, 17 August.
Emerald 18 & 19 August: Workshop, 19 August.
Rockhampton 20 & 21 August: Workshop, 21 August.

Housing Affordability Summit

ALGA President Cr Paul Bell has been invited to outline local government's perspective on housing affordability at Labor's National Housing Affordability Summit.

The Summit will be hosted by Labor leader Kevin Rudd next Thursday. The Summit will cover the following areas: home ownership, private rental affordability and the shortage of social housing.

Also attending will be state governments, representatives from the housing, property, finance and superannuation industries, economists and academics, and well as the community housing and social welfare sector.

The outcomes will form the basis of Labor's National Housing Affordability Strategy, which Mr Rudd says will be announced before the election.

Cr Bell said he was pleased to have the opportunity to participate in this important national issue. "Affordable housing is really about viable communities, and local government is very keen to be at the forefront of the debate," he said.

Democracy on YouTube

With 21.5% of teenagers keeping a personal blog, displaying photos or maintaining a website, the importance of on-line communities can no longer be ignored.

The Director of the Centre for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School for Communication, Jeffrey Cole, was visiting Australia from the US this week and spoke at the National Press Club on the implications of broadband on communities and how the internet is changing democracy by shifting power from governments and coporations into the hands of individuals.

Cole founded and directs the World Internet Project, a long-term longitudinal look at the effects of computer and Internet technology, which is conducted in over 25 countries.

With Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd collecting friends on MySpace and Prime Minister John Howard launching a policy for the first time on YouTube this week, both sides of Australian politics are staking their claim on cyberspace and trying to woo many young people not old enough to vote. Cole said that US politics was also reflecting this trend with Presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton using the internet to maximise support and profile. "I think it's changed all the rules in politics," he said, predicting the rise of a third party on the internet and increasing citizen participation.

Cole predicted that in the next few years those aged 12-24 won't own a landline phone, will never read an on-line newspaper, will trust unknown peers more than experts, will show little interest in the source of information, will not watch TV on someone else's schedule, will be part of the community at the centre of the internet experience, will consider themselves immune to advertising or brand but will be wrong; and everything will move to mobile. He said teenagers will want to be heard and will use instant messaging more and more. Email is already considered 'old hat.' Cole said he was a 'big fan' of WiMAX. "I don't think it is a solution all by itself, I think that it's a meaningful part of a solution."

Have your say!

Time is running out to submit your motion for discussion at the National General Assembly (NGA). The NGA offers local government a time to come together to develop, discuss and express a united voice on the issues affecting councils and their communities. It provides the platform to showcase local government to decision makers in the federal government, at both the political and departmental level and to remind them of the crucial role that local government plays in the Australian community.

It's your opportunity to further participate and engage in discussion on matters that are of national importance to local government - matters of importance to your council and your community. It's a time to have your say - so don't miss the opportunity. The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) encourages all council to take active participation in what is the most important annual event for local government.

Based on your feedback from the 2006 National General Assembly, the following principles for determining motions for debate at the Assembly were endorsed:

  1. it must refer to an issue of national significance;
  2. be relevant to the work of local government; and
  3. not oppose the interests of any one state or territory.

The eligibility of motions submitted will be reviewed against these principles by the General Assembly Review Committee and state/territory associations and those endorsed will be debated at the NGA.

Use this opportunity - submit your Notice of Motion. Follow the link - fill in your Call for Motions Proforma and return it to the Australian Local Government Association by email at alga@alga.asn.au no later than Friday 10 August 2007.

ALGA's submission to the PC

ALGA has made a submission to the Productivity Commission's study into local government's own source revenue raising capacity.

The study was announced by the Federal Treasurer in April this year and aims to examine the capacity of different types of councils to raise revenue, the impact of the various revenue sources available to local government, and the regulatory environment surrounding local government’s revenue raising capacity. Details of the study can be found at: www.pc.gov.au/study/localgovernment/index.html

The ALGA submission notes that the PC study is only one of a series of initiatives focused on local government financing, including the PricewaterhouseCoopers report completed in late 2006, the Hawker inquiry, consideration of the issue in April 2007 by COAG and ongoing work by the Local Government and Planning Minister’s Council.

ALGA made the following key points to the Commission:

  • Councils provide a wide range of 'non-commercial' infrastructure and services (eg youth services, aged care, sporting facilities and other community programs). Not all of these activities can be cost-recovered through user pays fees and charges (but where they can they should be).
  • Changing demographics have seen the types of services provided by councils change dramatically over time. While councils still provide property services, they now also provide a wide range of human services (redistributive services). Attempting to fund these redistributive services through increased property-based taxes is not appropriate and could result in high need/low capacity to pay councils not being able to provide adequate service delivery.
  • The capacity of individual local councils to raise own-source revenue varies dramatically. However the expectation of local communities across Australia for the types of services provided by local councils, especially community-based services, is relatively consistent.
  • Redistribution of taxes should be based on the principle of horizontal equalisation to ensure that a similar level of service is provided across local government boundaries.
  • Total taxation should pay for all non-commercial government services. Local government is primarily a service provider with limited taxation and revenue raising capacity under the federation, which provides that surplus federal funds should be redistributed to address the issue of vertical fiscal imbalance (VFI).
  • Rates as the only form of local government taxation cannot be redistributed between councils. This means that high capacity to pay councils would have a greater level of service than low capacity to pay councils.

ALGA's submission will be posted in full on the ALGA web-site on Monday at www.alga.asn.au and will also be available (along with other submissions to the study) on the study web-site at: www.pc.gov.au/study/localgovernment
/subs/sublist.html

The study is expected to take 12 months and the Commission will continue to take submissions over the full course of the inquiry. Councils are encouraged to stay in touch with the study as it progresses and to make submissions throughout the process.

Community Housing Mapping Project

The Community Housing Federation of Australia's (CHFA) 2005-06 Community Housing Mapping Project, which was recently launched by the Minister for Community Services, Senator Nigel Scullion, will be of interest to many local councils.

The project provides a range of current information relating to the community housing sector that may be of interest to local government and can be found at: www.chfa.com.au

Respite Services Funding

The Minister for Community Services, Senator Nigel Scullion has encouraged all appropriate non-government organizations, including local government and community organizations to apply for funding under the recently opened tender process for $126.9 million National Respite Development Fund to build or expand new and innovative respite services.

"Organisations are invited to apply for funding to establish additional respite services, which will increase availability in metropolitan, rural and remote regions across Australia," Senator Scullion said.

The Government's Mental Health National Respite Development Fund will be funded from the Mental Health Respite Program and the new Respite for Older Carers of Children with Disability initiative.

The funding program is relatively broad and the guidelines reflect this. They are relatively non-prescriptive and provide for funding of a range of different types of respite services such as in-home respite, out-of-home respite and short term residential programs such as group homes and supervised holiday options.

Applications close on Friday 3 August 2007, and further details can be obtained from www.facsia.gov.au/mentalhealth or by calling 1800 733 413.

Quote of the week

"And I think if you'd asked anyone in Britain in 1941 whether they were optimistic or pessimistic it would have been the wrong question to ask and the wrong sentiment for people to have. They were simply determined to win, you know, and that's the situation that I find myself in, I think, in terms of that. I'm neither optimistic nor pessimistic but determined to make a difference and I wish some more people would join me in that determination."
Tim Flannery, Australian of the Year

International news  

A stray cat has been reunited with her owner in Britain following a ten-year disappearance.

Staff at The Blue Cross pet charity in Burford, Oxfordshire said 12-year-old Lynx was brought to the charity as a stray after she was found in the nearby village of Carterton.

During routine checks staff discovered she was microchipped.

A scan of the electronic identification device revealed contact details that were used to track down her registered owner - more than 95 km away in Hook, Hampshire.

Blue Cross head of companion animal welfare Mandy Jones said staff at the charity were stunned when they discovered how long Lynx had been missing.

"We were amazed to discover that Lynx had been missing for ten years," she said today.

"I still can't believe we were able to reunite her with her owner after such a long time - it goes to show how important microchipping is."

State of the Regions report 2006-07