ALGA News

From the President

It came as no surprise to hear that the Prime Minister John Howard used YouTube to push the benefits of this week's APEC meeting. With Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd collecting friends on MySpace and policies being launched on YouTube, both sides of Australian politics are staking their claim on cyberspace and trying to woo Generation Y voters.

And we are not just talking about city-folk. Increasingly the younger generation in rural and regional areas are demanding fast high-speed broadband services and this is putting pressure on governments to deliver. What is of concern to social planners is that unless the technology reaches these areas, local economies will suffer and our young people will vote with their feet, and move to technology clusters in Australia's cities.

The figures show that 21.5% of teenagers keep a personal blog, display photos or maintain a website, and this means 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, who was in Australia recently, said that the internet is changing democracy by shifting power from governments and corporations into the hands of individuals.

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 was already considered 'old hat.'

ALGA is working on a collaborative policy document with the Rural Doctors Association of Australia. A major focus of our discussions are that high quality broadband services are needed in rural communities to enhance social and economic activity generally and to give doctors and their patents the advantages of higher technology, information sharing, electronic patient records and on-line education. Regional centres and towns require significant bandwidth if they are to provide new patient centric health services of the future.

The State of the Regions report has presented a strong case for fast, cost-effective broadband services throughout Australia and our policy-makers are listening. We have the Broadband Blueprint from the Federal Government and Labor's broadband proposal. However, we will keep pressing the importance and urgency of connecting all of Australia to the information superhighway. Our election policy document which will be sent to all councils in the next week or so - 'A 10-Point Plan to Reinvigorate Local Communities' - is another way to keep the dream alive. I encourage you all to read it. A copy is available on the ALGA website: www.alga.asn.au

Cr Paul Bell AM
ALGA President

Sydney best city to visit in world

Sydney has just been voted the best city to visit in the world.

A survey of 30 thousand readers of luxury travel bible Conde Nast Traveller as put Sydney in first spot for favourite overseas city ahead of tourist hotspots Paris, New York and Rome.

Australia ranked fourth in the countries category behind India, Italy and Thailand while the Great Barrier Reef was named the 10th best island destination in the world.

Sydney impressed travellers for being a clean and user-friendly city as well as having the best restaurants.

National report card/PIA Congress

The Planning Institute of Australia is once again conducting a national Planning Report Card asking Planners to tell it how it is in their state/territory. The Planning Report Card survey will be available on line from until 9 September. The link to the survey can be found by visiting the PIA home page (www.planning.org.au). You will also find a link on the home page to the responses that have been received from the state/territory planning departments in regard to the planning initiatives that they are currently undertaking. The PIA are encouraging you to take 10 - 15 minutes out of your day to read the responses from the planning department in your state/territory and then to complete the survey. There are two additional questions this year and the ranking has also been changed from A - D to A - E. The results of the survey will be announced in Adelaide on World Town Planning Day, 8 November 2007.

The 2008 PIA National Congress is being held in Sydney at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre from 13 - 16 April 2008. The Planning Institute of Australia are now calling for abstract submissions which will unlock our thinking, increase our knowledge, entertain and inspire us as well as offer solutions to the problems associated with Climate Change, Water, Coastal, Industry, Energy, Technology, Bio Diversity / Natural Resources, Social Change, Health, Urban Design, Housing, Transport & Infrastructure, Governance, Disaster Management and Diversity.

Information regarding the Call for Abstracts process can be found on the homepage of the PIA website - www.planning.org.au. The closing date for the Call for Abstracts is 28 September 2007. If you require any additional information regarding the Call for Abstracts process please do not hesitate to contact Nicole Campbell on 02 6262 5933 or via email - marketing@planning.org.au.

Labor proposal for health advisory group

Labor has announced that it will formulate a new health advisory group that will be responsible for providing recommendations for expenditure of a promised $2 billion under Labor’s National Health Reform Plan, should Labor win the federal election.

The Advisory Group will be tasked with investigating options and needs within hospitals and health services in an effort to improve the health system and promote preventative health care options.

The group will draw on advice from hospital administrators, industry bodies and otherhealthcare professionals.

The Shadow Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, will chair the group, and has already begun to meet with stakeholders and community bodies, and she will be joined by shadow ministers Simon Crean (Regional Services) and Senators Kate Lundy (Health Promotion, Local Government) and Jan McLucas (Ageing).

It will be essential that this consultation also expands into rural, regional and remote areas of Australia to ensure that the needs of these communities are balanced with those in metropolitan and coastal areas.

Any interested parties are invited to submit brief written suggestions to members of HHAG for Labor's consideration, either to their state contact or to Nicola Roxon's office on 03 9687 7355 or by email at nicola@nicolaroxonmp.com

ALP Infrastructure Minister

The Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Water, Anthony Albanese, has announced that Labor would create the position of Federal Infrastructure Minister if it wins government. The central plank of Labor's infrastructure policy is the creation of an independent Commonwealth Statutory Authority, Infrastructure Australia, which would be comprised of representatives from all levels of government and key stakeholders. Mr Albanese said that based on an audit of the state of the nation's infrastructure and future needs, Infrastructure Australia would have a deadline of 12 months from the election to produce its first National Infrastructure Priority List. That would include existing infrastructure assets that needed improvement and new assets that needed to be built.

Local government and federalism

I'm pleased to announce that Federalism and Regionalism in Australia: New Approaches, New Institutions? (Australia and New Zealand School of Government / ANU E-Press, 2007) is now available for download in part or whole from the ANU E-Press website: go to: http://epress.anu.edu.au/fra_citation.html Hard copies can also be ordered from ANU E-Press at the grand RRP of $19.95. The book includes a chapter on local government and federalism written by ALGA President Cr Paul Bell.

ATUG's communications roadshow continues - Lismore, Cooma and Moree

The Australian Telecommunications Users Group (ATUG) is offering three free seminars. The first is on Tuesday 11 September at Lismore from 5.39pm for a 6pm start - 8.30pm at Invercauld House, 161 Invercauld Road, Goonellabah. The second is on Wednesday 12 September in Moree from 5.30 for at the Max Function and Conference Centre. The other seminar is at Cooma on Thursday 13 September from 5.30pm at the Cooma Ex-Services Club. RSVP to Patrick.sinclair@atug.org.au or 02 9495 8905. For more information go to www.atug.com.au/RegionalRoadshow07.cfm

$1.7 million for crime prevention

The Australian Government has given 417 grants totaling $1.7million to organizations around Australia under the Small Grants initiative of the National Community Crime Prevention Program (NCCPP). The Small Grants Program enables community organisations to purchase small items of equipment or undertake small scale projects that directly assist crime prevention in local communities by applying for grants of up to $5,000. Successful recipients of the NCCPP Small Grants funding can be found at www.crimeprevention.gov.au.

Wind farm working group appointed

The federal government has appointed a working group to create a national code for wind farms. The group with be chaired by senior environment department officer Denis Smedley and includes representatives from local government (Liz Johnstone, senior planning adviser at the Municipal Association of Victoria), the Australian Wind Energy Association and the National Trust, as well as a farmer.

Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the national code would provide a consistent and transparent framework for community consultation about the siting and development of wind farms in Australia. "While primary responsibility in these matters rests with state and territory governments, there should be a more consistent approach than currently exists across Australia," Mr Turnbull said.

The NT Local Government Amendment Bill was passed in Parliament this week

A draft of the new Local Government Act will be available in October, with time for comment prior to deliberation in the Legislative Assembly.

For the latest information and updates on local government reform in the Northern Territory, visit www.nt.gov.au/localgovernment/new or call 1300 654 368

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Economic development managers, councillors and senior managers from local government and regional economic development bodies, including Area Consultative Committees, will meet in Sydney on 31 October- 1 November for the 2007 National Economic Development Conference.

The two-day conference, which will also host the 2007 Economic Development (ED) Awards, will take place at the Dockside Conference Centre overlooking Sydney's Darling Harbour precinct. More than 250 delegates are expected to attend the conference and the Awards Dinner, which follows on from the outstanding success of the inaugural Economic Development Conference in Melbourne last November.

International and local keynote speakers will include: Ronnie Bryant, Vice Chairman of the International Economic Development Council (US); Ann Verboeket, Director, Economic Development Association of New Zealand; David Keenan, Chair of Economic Development Australia, and Colin Dunn, Vice President, International Council of Small Business.

The two-day event will be hosted by Economic Development Australia, the professional body for economic development practitioners and managers in local, regional, state and federal governments. Successful case studies in attracting investment, rebuilding local economies, developing more entrepreneurial approaches within local businesses, and identifying the key drivers within regional and local economies will be outlined, allowing delegates to immediately use that information.

It will provide a unique opportunity to network with economic development managers in local government and regional economic organisations from all parts of the country. The agenda of the 2007 conference can be viewed at www.halledit.com.au/conferences For more information, please telephone the conference organisers, Hallmark Conferences on 03 8534 5000 or email denise.mcqueen@halledit.com.au

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Constitutional recognition - Great Lakes passes motion of support

Great Lakes Council has passed a motion of support for constitutional recognition which they have forwarded on to their local MP Bob Baldwin, who is also the Parliamentary Secretary for Industry, Tourism and Resources.

The motion was passed unanimously. It reads: "That Council unanimously agree to request the Federal Government to conduct a constitutional referendum recognising local government, in conjunction with the next Federal Election, and that council's representative bodies support this motion."

Bethlehem and Marrickville sisterhood

Marrickville, in Sydney's inner-west, is now officially the sister city of Bethlehem. The mayor of Marrickville, Morris Hanna, and his Bethlehem counterpart Dr Victor Batarseh signed a sister city agreement this week at a civic reception at the Petersham council chambers.

"Our sister cities program is aimed at increasing international understanding and fostering world peace by furthering international communication and exchange at the person-to-person level through city-to-city affiliations," Mr Hanna said.

Mr Hanna said the relationship with Bethlehem was an appropriate one because both cities were multicultural. The cities also had language in common, he said, as Arabic has been identified as one of the top five non-English languages spoken in the Marrickville area.

Marrickville joins Milan and Assisi in Italy, Cologne in Germany, Athens in Greece, Glasgow in Scotland and many others as sister cities of Bethlehem.

Councils fight climate change

The Climate Change Action Pack is a continually updated website that includes case studies of successful council projects, as well as information on risk assessment and insurance, funding opportunities and upcoming events.

Developed by the Local Government and Shires Associations of NSW, and funded by State Government, the site also boasts background information on climate change, a newsroom, and a description of current projects and programs, including the NSW Mayor's Agreement on Climate Change.

The Climate Change Action Pack is available at www.lgsa-plus.net.au/ClimateChangeActionPack

PM hopeful on progress on climate change

Prime Minister John Howard believes there could be real hopes for progress on climate change if he can get the United States, Russia and China to come to some agreement on addressing the global warming problem. The three biggest polluters in the world will be in town for the APEC leaders' summit on the weekend.

Mr Howard has high hopes of getting the 21 nations which make up the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum to agree on a framework to work towards dealing with climate change.

But he admits there is no hope of getting the countries to agree to binding targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

On the eve of Sydney's APEC meeting, Mr Howard announced three initiatives, totaling $70.7 million in funding, to strengthen the global research effort into new energy technologies, further support the development and regional deployment of such technologies, and help build the skills needed to underpin regional action on sustainable forest management. The funding includes $5 million to establish an Asia-Pacific Network for Energy Technology (APNet), $50 million to further support practical climate change action through the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP), and $15.7 million to help countries in our region increase their forest management expertise.

Broadband funding for NT

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, denied suggestions by the NT Government that broadband funding allocations for remote communities are based on whether or not there has been any local government reform.

"The decision to provide Clever Networks funding to the 'ShiresNet' project has absolutely nothing to with the structure of the Northern Territory's local government system," Senator Coonan said.

"The decision to award $6.4 million to the ShiresNet project was based solely on the substantial benefits that the project itself will deliver to rural and remote communities in the Northern Territory using enhanced broadband technologies and infrastructure."

The $113 million Clever Networks program invests in innovative broadband infrastructure and services to enable improved delivery of health, education, government and emergency services in regional, rural and remote communities. ShiresNet will service 57 such communities in the Northern Territory.

"The $6.4 million ShiresNet project will deliver better services for residents across the Territory and will provide improved ICT services infrastructure for shire councils," Senator Coonan said. "This will enable a secure and reliable platform for the deployment of business systems, intranet, IP telephony, videoconferencing and mobile computing services. The ShiresNet project will also help develop new ICT training programs, allow access to broadband facilities available in community service delivery centres and offer off peak internet access facilities in council offices to community residents."

More information about Clever Networks is available at www.dcita.gov.au/clevernetworks

Call for NSW horse owners in restricted areas to register now

Horse owners in Restricted Areas (RAs) have boosted efforts to stop the spread of equine influenza (EI) by registering and monitoring their horses, and those who have not yet registered are requested to do so immediately.

NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) deputy chief veterinary officer, Ian Roth, said time is of the essence and the sooner all horses, ponies and donkeys in RAs are registered and the spread of the virus is mapped, the sooner effective control of EI will occur. Registrations can be made online with RA maps and location information also available on the EI website: www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/equine-influenza.

Horse owners in RAs who find any signs of EI must contact their own veterinarians or the Local Disease Control Centre veterinarians on (02) 4640 6561.

In other parts of NSW, any flu-like symptoms in horses should be reported to the EI HOTLINE 1800 675 888.

More information: www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/equine-influenza

Engineers forefront of climate change

Local government is the level of government that is best able to provide leadership and engage with people on actions they can take to reduce climate change. Speaking at the Cairns 14th International Public Works Conference of the Institute of Public Works Engineering, Professor Martin, from La Trobe University's Centre for Sustainable Regional Communities, addressed the topic, 'Local Government and Climate Change: Risk Management, Adaptation and Mitigation'.

"We know the science and the predictions concerning climate change," Professor Martin said. "But it is the responses by the community that will really count and it is the message you send as leaders that will determine if others will follow. "You need to inspire your residents to make things happen. Engage with people to develop local solutions and create learning communities about climate change. "There is a huge amount of local knowledge out there that can be used for both mitigation and adaptation strategies."

For further information contact Ross Moody, Executive Officer, IPWEA on 0417 955 394.

National Food Safety Week 2007

Local Government is encouraged to be part of National Food Safety Week 2007 being held 12-19 November 2007 - the week after Melbourne Cup.

As this year is the 10th anniversary of the Food Safety Information Council, the theme will be Back to Basics focusing on the main food safety messages - Clean, Cook, Chill and Separate.

A scorecard of Australian's uptake of these basic food safety messages will be launched during Food Safety Week. The scorecard is based on annual tracking research the Council has undertaken to assess its Food Safety Campaign.

The Council provides FREE food safety brochures and posters to Local Government to distribute during Food Safety Week, or any other time of the year. Just email your requirements and contact details.

Also, if you are organising an event or activity to promote food safety let us know so we can add the details to our website to let others know.

Local Government can gain special benefits by joining the Food Safety Information Council at the reduced rate of $250.00.

National Food Safety Week is the major activity of the Food Safety Information Council, Australia's leading disseminator of consumer targeted food safety information.

More information: www.foodsafety.asn.au Email: foodsafety@ozemail.com.au.

ACS reveals carbon footprint

The Australian Computer Society (ACS), the nation's peak professional body for the ICT sector, has delivered Australia's first ICT carbon emissions audit, revealing that ICT use by Australian businesses generated 7.94 million tonnes (Mt) of carbon dioxide in 2005, which is the close equivalent to the civil aviation and the metal production Industries.

In response to the audit's findings, the ACS today launches a Policy Statement for Green ICT, which includes suggestions on initiatives ICT professionals, government, consumers and ICT manufacturers can take to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions attributable to the use of ICT equipment.

The ACS Policy Statement for Green ICT can be found at: www.acs.org.au/acs_policies/docs/2007/
greenictpolicy.pdf

The Audit of Carbon Emissions resulting from ICT usage by Australian Business Report is made available to ACS members at www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?
action=show&conID=greenictaudit

Over $5 billion spent on cultural activities

More than $5.4 billion was spent by the public sector in Australia on cultural activities in 2005-06, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Governments in Australia gave the largest proportion of their total cultural funding to broadcasting and film ($1.2 billion) in 2005-06, followed by nature parks and reserves ($1.1 billion), libraries and archives ($576 million) and other museums ($506 million).

Federal spending was up by 7% (to $1.9 billion) on cultural activities. Three-quarters ($1.4 billion) was spent on arts related activity (including broadcasting and film), with the remainder ($472 million) spent on heritage activities.

State and territory governments spent $2.6 billion, a rise of 11% from the previous year. Nature parks and reserves were the largest single recipient of funding, receiving $1.0 billion, as well as receiving the largest dollar increase in funding (up 10% or $95 million) from the previous year.

The local government sector put in $973 million towards cultural activities in 2005-06, up 8% on last year. Local government accounted for 18% of the total cultural spending.

More details can be found in Cultural Funding by Government, 2004-05 (cat. no. 4183.0). More information on: www.abs.gov.au

Volunteering Australia

http://url.edna.edu.au/6rE9 Volunteering Australia has released a practical guide for involving volunteers from diverse cultural and language (CALD) backgrounds. Contents include understanding diversity; planning for recruitment; recruiting young women, and Muslims from diverse cultural backgrounds; and best practice strategies.

ABS community profiles

New community profiles compiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics from the 2006 Census are now available on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website at www.abs.gov.au. The first three community profiles in the series being uploaded today are:

• A primary profile consisting of 35 tables of key Census characteristics of persons, families and homes based on place of usual residence;
• A community profile of Indigenous Australians; and,
• A time series profile comparing data from the 1996, 2001 and 2006 censuses.

Further community profiles will go on the ABS website in September.

Irrigation peak body forms

A new peak body for the irrigation industry in Australia has been formed called Irrigation Australia Limited (IAL).

The new organisation has resulted from the merger of the two major irrigation bodies - the Australia National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (ANCID), representing irrigation water authorities and delivery companies, and the Irrigation Association of Australia, representing both rural and urban irrigation sectors from manufacturers and distributors to end users.