From the President
An exciting development to emerge from the election battleground is that new ideas about how local government, the states and the federal government can work together are now on the national agenda.
Local government has a long-cherished aspiration. An aspiration which has been tested and rejected twice through national referendums in 1975 and 1988. All we ask is that we have the opportunity to sit at the table as an equal partner with the states and have greater control over our own destiny.
It is anachronistic that in this day and age, we have a significant sphere of government without formal recognition in the Constitution. A sphere of government which for over 150 years has been delivering an increasingly broad range of infrastructure, including roads, and economic and community services, employs more than 165,000 Australians and spends around $18 billion each year (around 2% of the GDP).
It seems that now, constitutional recognition is in the public arena and this is the best opportunity we have had for some time to seize the initiative and chart the way forward.
The Labor Party has now come out with a timetable. If it wins government, Federal Labor will consult with local, state and territory governments on the process for achieving constitutional recognition. These discussions will include holding a constitutional convention and the timing of a referendum.
The Minister for Local Government, Jim Lloyd, has flagged his willingness to look seriously at constitutional recognition for local government. Speaking at the LGAQ's Annual Conference on the Gold Coast on Tuesday, Mr Lloyd indicated that he was prepared to enter into serious dialogue with local government on the issue.
However, we have a lot of work to do. We must convince the Australian people that this is the best course of action for local government and the best direction for local communities. We must also have bipartisan political support. The recent events in Queensland with forced amalgamations show what happens when local governments are at the whim of state governments and there is no clear-cut appeal process or form of redress. This has helped to elevate this issue onto the national stage.
We cannot afford to have another failed referendum. I believe we will get it right this time. We must all work together. I encourage all of you to take part in the National General Assembly in Darwin to ensure you are part of the debate. We are also planning to hold a Constitutional Summit next year for local government to map out its desired path towards self-determination and to ensure we have strong, consistent and clearly articulated arguments to underpin our case.
Some councils are passing motions supporting constitutional recognition which they are drawing to the attention of their local MPs and Senators. This will assist us to keep the momentum going and to show the extent of grass-roots support for reform. There has never been a better time to be heard and I thank you for all the encouragement and support I have received on this issue. My media release is on the ALGA website and the link to the National General Assembly is on www.nga.alga.asn.au
Cr Paul Bell AM
ALGA President
Consultations open for disability supported accommodation
The Howard Government is opening consultations to establish the best options for providing 1750 new supported accommodation places for people with disabilities.
The Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough, said these consultations are part of the Prime Minister's announcement of an extra $962 million to help older carers and their families as part of the Government's $1.8 billion disability package announced in late June.
Commencing on 10 September, public meetings will be held in metropolitan and regional centres across Australia through to mid October 2007. Written submissions will also be accepted up to Friday 26 October. A discussion paper on this initiative will be available from 28 August at www.facsia.gov.au and by calling 1800 045 394.
To get details of the public meetings and register your interest, call 1800 045 394 or email disabilityaccommodation@nationalmailing.com.au.
ALP plan for "regional GP clinics"
Labor Leader Kevin Rudd announced this week that the ALP will spend $220 million to provide "General Practice Super Clinics" if elected.
The clinics would be located in regional Australia and will be aimed at providing local communities with accessible health practitioners and services such as; doctors, nurses, specialists and allied health professionals, such as physiotherapists, podiatrists, dieticians and psychologists, all in one centre.
The proposal is meant to address the needs identified by the ALP to provide infrastructure funding to meet needs for local services to establish a range of essential services and make best use of shortages of skilled workforce in some regional areas.
The fund will also be able to be accessed for payment of incentives to attract administrative and nursing support, and to provide facilities for teaching rooms and facilities to attract trainees and graduates.
Further details of the proposal can be viewed at:
www.alp.org.au/download/new_directions_for_
australias_health_gp_super_clinics_final.pdf
ALP proposal for "Ambassador for Ageing"
The ALP has emphasised that if elected to government federally, it will be looking to further promote the positive aspects of our ageing communities through the appointment of an "Ambassador for Ageing" who would be responsible for promoting active and healthy ageing to both older people and to the community at large.
The ALP proposal is based on its desire to promote positive ageing and to give older Australians a more prominent voice in policy and program development.
The initiative also proposes that a Ministerial Council on Ageing will be created and report to the Council of Australian Governments to provide an improved focus for the needs and issues facing older Australians, through coordination of positive ageing programs.
Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics - Working Paper 71 Estimating Urban Traffic and Congestion Cost Trends for Australian Cities
This Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics (BTRE) paper shows that travel in Australian urban areas has grown ten fold over the last 60 years. Private road vehicles now account for about 90 per cent of the total urban passenger task (up from around 40 per cent in the late 1940's).
The BTRE estimates that total kilometers traveled in urban areas will increase by 37 per cent between 2005 and 2020. Commercial vehicle traffic is forecast to grow substantially more strongly (approximately 3.5 per cent per annum) than private traffic which is forecast to grow at about 1.7 per cent per annum.
The paper also estimates the cost of congestion for the Australia capital cities to be about $9.4 billion in 2005 and is projected to increase to $20.4 billion by 2020. The estimates for individually cities are:
| City | Social cost of congestion in 2005 | Social cost of congestion in 2020 |
| Sydney | $3.5 billion | $7.8 billion |
| Melbourne | $3.0 billion | $6.1 billion |
| Brisbane | $1.2 billion | $3.0 billion |
| Perth | $0.9 billion | $2.1 billion |
| Adelaide | $0.6 billion | $1.1 billion |
| Canberra | $0.11 billion | $0.2 billion |
| Hobart | $50 million | $70 million |
| Darwin | $18 million | $ 35 million |
The full report can be found on BTRE website www.btre.gov.au/index.aspx.
National greenhouse reporting scheme
The federal government has been accused of infringing on state powers again through its proposed national greenhouse reporting scheme.
The Victorian and South Australian governments have complained about the scheme seeking to exclude state and territory laws which provide for reporting of greenhouse gas and energy information.
The draft federal laws are designed to establish a uniform reporting system from next year ahead of the operation of a national emissions trading scheme by 2012.
The trading scheme is the main plank of Prime Minister John Howard's climate change policy.
A Victorian government submission to a Senate inquiry into the legislation says it puts at risk state initiatives on climate change and energy.
The SA submission said under the proposed laws, many state greenhouse programs could cease in 2008 until the trading scheme began up to four years later.
The Australian Greens said the legislation would undermine cooperation between governments to develop a uniform approach to greenhouse reporting.
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Local Government Sustainable Development Conference 2007
The 2007 Local Government Sustainable Development Conference in Melbourne on September 11-12 will focus on reducing the carbon footprint, water sustainability, waste minimisation and developments in the built environment within the local government field.
The 2007 conference is being organised by Hallmark Editions and Environs Australia, the local government environment network, and follows the successful inaugural sustainable development conference held in Sydney last year.
The 2007 conference will incorporate the Sustainability Awards organised by Environs Australia. The 2007 Awards will recognise the contributions made by environment professionals as well as councillors in progressing sustainability at the local level. There will be three Gold Awards and six Silver Awards announced. For more details of how to enter the Awards, please visit www.environs.org.au
The conference has been designed to assist local government practitioners to identify, plan and implement best practice sustainable development solutions, particularly related to reducing the carbon footprint. It will showcase leading edge examples of outstanding environmental initiatives by Australian local governments.
Local Government professionals, at the forefront of developing sustainability strategies, will present their experiences and lessons learnt in implementing sustainable development programs.
Best practice case studies on water minimisation, greenhouse emissions control, and minimising environment impacts of the built environment will be revealed. The conference has been structured as an intensive learning experience to enable attendees to immediately use the information.
At a Gala Dinner on the evening of Day 1, Environs Australia , the local government environment network, will announce the winners of the Sustainability 2007 Awards for Local Government.
The detailed Agenda for the 2007 Conference can be found at http://www.halledit.com.au/conferences/
sustainability/2007
For registration inquiries, please contact Denise McQueen on (03) 8534 5000
or email denise.mcqueen@halledit.com.au
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Qld councils fight on: battered and bruised but still defiant
Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) president Paul Bell has announced the likely date for a plebiscite as October 20 and vowed to continue his fight against the government's decision to slash council numbers.
Cr Bell told the LGAQ annual conference on the Gold Coast he expected many councils would decide this week whether they would participate, with an initial list of participating councils to be drawn up as early as next week.
Councils would need to formally register for the polls, but could change their minds before the cut-off date, which was yet to be decided, he said.
Cr Bell said at least 60 councils would participate after a flood of interest was triggered by the federal government offering to fund the plebiscites through the Australian Electoral Commission.
"We are battered and bruised but our heads will never be lowered ... we will run the race to the finish post true to our creed," Mr Bell told the conference in his opening address.
"We will see polls ... in your communities where you want them when councils request them, because democracy can and will prevail in Queensland."
Federal Local Government Minister Jim Lloyd told the conference old-fashioned "people power" could still force the Queensland government to scrap its controversial plans to slash the number of councils from 156 to 72.
"The message to Andrew Fraser [Qld Local Government Minister] is - do not underestimate the will of the people because politics is about people who are entitled to have a say," he said.
Mystery of disappearing backyards
The Urban Research Program at Griffith University is pleased to announce the release of our latest research paper. Research Paper 13 is authored by Prof. Tony Hall and is titled 'Where Have All the Gardens Gone? An Investigation into the Disappearance of Backyards in the Newer Australian Suburb'. The paper examines the changing form of new suburban development focusing on layout and yard space. The paper considers these trends in relation to the historical form of suburban development and recent practice overseas. The paper may be downloaded here free of charge.
Election date: PM hasn't decided
The Prime Minister John Howard said this week he still had not decided when to hold the federal election.
Mr Howard is tipped to call the election for some time between late October and mid-November. But Mr Howard told the media: "I still haven't decided. "We've still got a period to go and I'm not getting into speculation. I haven't made up my mind about that."
Pandemic influenza guidelines
Updated version of the Local Government Association of South Australia Human Pandemic Influenza BCP Guidelines for Local Government is now online. The LGASA Pandemic Awareness Project Officer Tony McLoughlin advises that the new guidelines have taken a more holistic approach and include some of the valuable and worthwhile WA resource templates in a modified form.
To access the guidelines see.
www.lga.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=191&print=1&C=13441
Victorian councils planning for regional development
The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) has welcomed the Victorian Government's announcement of $1.65 million to assist rural and regional local councils to work together to find new ways of planning for regional development.
Cr Dick Gross, MAV President said the investment was particularly welcomed by the 130 delegates at the Summit as 30 municipalities would directly benefit from the projects announced under the Government's Provincial Planning initiative.
Cr Gross said that with many strategic planning issues facing councils, it was important for collaborative approaches and strong alliances to be formed to share knowledge, workloads and benefits across a region.
"We're all part of the one state and we need to help each other create a vision that leads to coordinated provision of infrastructure and services for communities, business and industry across municipal boundaries.
"Drought, bushfire, flood and changing community demographics are just some of the issues that must be tackled to ensure population retention and expansion, new job opportunities, investment and business development are realised in rural and regional areas," he said.
Understanding Residential Densities
Understanding Residential Densities: A Pictorial Handbook of Adelaide Examples has been developed by Planning SA to assist in understanding, through visual examples, the residential densities defined in the Planning Strategy for Metropolitan Adelaide (August 2006).
The Handbook is intended to demonstrate the variety of designs, styles and ages of dwellings that appear already in the four different categories of residential density described in the Planning Strategy (very low, low, medium and high density). The Handbook is in no way intended as a guide to best practice in design and planning of residential development; nor does it endorse any particular form of development or example contained within it.
The 60 examples contained in the handbook have been selected from various sites found throughout metropolitan Adelaide, with the aim of representing a typical cross-section of dwellings and forms of development found within the city. Although they are all from metropolitan Adelaide, the densities and forms of development represented are equally applicable to the outer metropolitan Adelaide region and regional South Australia.
The examples are divided into four sections, in line with the four categories of residential density defined in the Planning Strategy. At the start of each section, the relevant category of density is defined with a direct excerpt from the Planning Strategy. Each section also has general observations regarding typical allotment sizes and characteristics of the various examples included.
Note: Print quality copies of the Handbook are available on CD-ROM. Please phone Michael Davis at Planning SA on (08) 8303 0845
Living Heritage - newsletter
Department of the Environment and Water Resources has just released its new Living Heritage newsletter. The newsletter has several interesting articles and a very information inventory of the National Heritage List and plain english summary and jurisdictional overview of the range of heritage lists, both from a legislative and non-statutory formats.
To view the newsletter see:
Regional development council
Australian and State and Territory Government Ministers responsible for regional development and the Australian Local Government Association met on Tuesday in Cairns for the fourth meeting of the Regional Development Council (RDC).
Attendance and participation at this meeting in a key regional centre demonstrated the high priority all jurisdictions place on regional development and their willingness to share ideas and progress issues collaboratively. The meeting was chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Regional Services, Mark Vaile.
The meeting's key themes included: regional investment promotion; regional economic benefits of biofuels; drought recovery and structural adjustment; and broadband access in regional Australia. This communiqué sets out the agreed outcomes of the discussion.
Ministers considered a study that will assist governments communicate the benefits of investment in its regional centres. The study emphasises that all Australian cities (both capital cities and regional centres) are cost competitive and the variation in business costs for all Australian cities is quite low when compared to the United States and other countries.
Ministers considered the developments occurring in the biofuels industry. Ministers agreed that further consideration should be given to future excise rebates, support for smooth conversion processes, ongoing industry development, and research and development for second generation biofuels.
Ministers discussed the difficulties faced by farmers and rural communities as a result of the current prolonged drought, and the varied impacts the drought is having on different regions and industries. Ministers agreed to continue to encourage a stronger focus on improving community capacity to underpin the long-term resilience and sustainability of rural communities.
Ministers agreed that the rollout of fast reliable broadband technology is one of the most critical infrastructure issues facing regional Australia.
The Regional Development Council noted that the Council of Australian Governments Online and Communication Council at its recent meeting agreed the establishment of a Joint Implementation Group in relation to the OPEL Network for consultation as Australia Connected is implemented. The consultation will aim to ensure that the roll out of Commonwealth and State and Territory initiatives are carried out in a complementary manner. Ministers requested that the Online and Communications Council consult with the Regional Development Council on implementation issues.
Ministers agreed that the Australian Government would work with State and Territory Governments in a collaborative approach to future roll outs of broadband.
The Council agreed to next meet in Western Australia in July 2008.
New Warmun art centre opens
The new Warmun Art Centre at Turkey Creek in the Kimberley region has officially this week with a ceremony hosted by the artists to mark the occasion.
Further information about the Indigenous Regional Development Program is available from the Department of Local Government and Regional Development on 9217 1500, Freecall 1800 620 511 (country only) or www.dlgrd.wa.gov.au.
Changing cities are driving our world
More than 2000 participants will attend the 2nd UCLG World Congress, which will take place in Jeju, Korea, from 28-31 October 2007. The title of the 2nd UCLG World Congress will be "Changing cities are driving our world." The UCLG World Congress is held every three years, offering an exceptional opportunity for local government representatives to meet colleagues from around the world and representatives form both the private sector and international institutions. Moreover, it provides a forum in which mayors and councillors examine key local government issues and set the local government agenda for the next three years and beyond. For more information contact the secretariat of the 2nd UCLG World Congress on www.uclg2007jeju.org
Quote of the week
"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds and six, result misery."
Charles Dickens, 'David Copperfield'
International news 
A museum charting the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade has opened in Liverpool, focusing on the way the city enriched itself on human trafficking, but also on the resistance of enslaved Africans.
In some ways it will be the latest chapter in Liverpool's efforts to come to terms with its past.
In 1999, its city council formally apologised, expressing "shame and remorse for the city's role in this trade in human misery." It also has commissioned statues entitled "Reconciliation" - two abstract bronze figures embracing. They are being dedicated this year in Richmond, Virginia, and Benin, a West African port of call for Liverpool's slave ships.
Such ships carried millions of human beings from West Africa to the plantations of the Americas in a triangular trade that also brought profitable cargoes of sugar, tobacco and rum to England.
Beatles fans who visit Penny Lane in Liverpool often are surprised to learn that it is named after James Penny, a slave trader and investor in 11 voyages that took 500 to 600 captives at a time to the New World.
Now showing in Australia is "Amazing Grace" - a film about William Wilberforce's inspirational political campaign to end the slave trade. Highly recommended.
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