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Federal election campaign - ALGA articulates its agenda online

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The first week of the 2007 election campaign provided an opportunity for the major players to frame the agenda. ALGA has entered the fray with its ELECTION 07 website on http://www.alga.asn.au/Election2007/ which provides links to key policies of relevance to local government and local government's '10-Point Plan' election document. ALGA is strongly campaigning for both parties to commit to a $250m per annum 4-year Local Community Infrastructure Renewals Fund among other initiatives such as financial sustainability for local government, and constitutional recognition.

In setting the scene for the next six weeks, the Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd both talked about leadership - "the right leadership" vs "new leadership." Mr Howard said he would focus on the economy, jobs and "policies that will lift living standards and address pressures felt by sections of the Australian community", Mr Howard promised further detail on climate change and water security policies and plans to give communities a greater say in the running of their own hospitals. Mr Howard and the Treasurer, Peter Costello, also announced a $34 billion tax policy. Mr Rudd highlighted education, industrial relations, broadband, delivering benefits for working families, the environment and health as Labor's agenda. Labor focused its housing affordability statement on the issue of land release.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of The Nationals, Mark Vaile, outlined the Nationals plan to share the benefits of a strong economy with local communities. He said the biggest issue facing local communities was the state of public hospitals and community management was the answer. He also said that creating jobs in the regions would be a priority. "The Nationals' plan for roads is to fast-track safety work on local roads by injecting funds directly into your local councils through Roads to Recovery and to improve the safety of our regional and interstate road networks through our new National Transport Plan - AusLink 2," he said. "Our vision includes a strong rail network to get more big trucks off our roads through projects like the Inland Rail link from Brisbane to Melbourne through Western NSW."

Road funding announcements

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The first week of the formal election campaign has seen a continuation of the plethora of road funding announcements of recent weeks.

The announcements have been focused on the strategic arterial road system.

Funding for local roads was announced in the Budget in May when the Roads to Recovery Program was extended to 2014 at an increased rate of $350 million per annum. An additional $250 million for strategic regional projects was also announced and the funds provided to councils. There is bipartisan support for the continuation of the Roads to Recovery Program.

Funding announcements in recent weeks have ranged in size from a feasibility study into a direct link from the Woy Woy Peninsula to the F3 on the NSW Central Coast by the Coalition to a $2.55 billion commitment by Labor for roads in south east Queensland.

There are many similarities between Labor and the Coalition in their road funding commitments. They are both targeting the key transport infrastructure bottle necks in the outer urban areas of the capital cities and major regional centres. These are, of course, also the key marginal seats.

Hopefully the convergence of transport needs and political imperative will result in good transport outcomes for the Australian economy, industries and communities.

While there has been much agreement on the transport investment priorities by the Coalition and Labor, there have been some differences of approach. For example while the Coalition and Labor agree that there are major traffic problems on the western outskirts of Brisbane the Coalition is committed to the $2.3 billion Goodna Bypass on the western outskirts of Brisbane while Labor would spend $1.1 billion to widen the existing Ipswich motorway to address the same problem.

Some other major road announcements include $2 billion for the upgrade of the Bruce Highway in Qld; $2.4 billion for the Pacific Highway, $125 million for stage 4 of the Geelong Bypass, $550 million for the northern expressway in Adelaide.

To date, unfortunately, neither Labor nor the Coalition have made any substantive commitments to Australia's urban passenger transport needs as recommend in the ALGA Local Roads and Transport Strategy, the communiqué from the National Local Roads and Transport Congress and its 10-Point Election Plan. ALGA looks forward to announcements by both sides of politics in this area.

Brown outlines Green election policies, including support for 'worm'

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Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown addressed the National Press Club on Wednesday, He said the Greens would campaign on raising aged pensions, and on the major issues of climate change and water security.

He advocated a national approach to container deposit legislation, rainwater tanks for every backyard and insulation and solar hot water for every household. Other issues the Greens would highlight during the campaign were the republic, education, public transport, health, housing affordability and reconciliation. He said the Greens would be an important presence in the Senate and with levels of public support were well-positioned to hold the balance of power. He castigated the major parties for their "me-tooism" and poll-driven populism.

At his campaign launch on the weekend, Mr Brown said that the Greens had never been better prepared and would run the strongest election campaign ever as Australia's third political party. He also said the Greens liked the controversial 'worm' in political debates, pointing out the crucial role worms play in conservation and the environment.
From the President

The 2007 election campaign has now been called and we are at the end of the first week. So far we have had tax cuts announced by the Prime Minister and Treasurer, a series of road announcements by both parties, and a Commonwealth land release policy by Labor Leader Kevin Rudd. The Shadow Local Government Minister Senator Lundy made a welcome announcement of funding towards the partnership between the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA), the National Heart Foundation and the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) to produce the 'Healthy Places and Spaces guidelines.'

However, ALGA's big ticket items are yet to be addressed. We have had commitments to Roads to extending the Recovery and the Regional component of AusLink 2 to 2014 by both major parties and are looking for this to be reflected in announcements during the campaign as well as support for ALGA's urban transport agenda. ALGA is continuing to lobby hard for a Local Community Infrastructure Renewals Fund and expects this to be included in both major parties' local government policy statements.

Labor supports constitutional recognition for local government and the Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals Leader Mark Vaile has also expressed support for local government to be included in the Constitution as an equal partner in the Federation. This is the ideal time for this cherished ambition to achieve bipartisan support which would help create the climate for a successful referendum result.

The issue of taxation and federal revenue to the states was bubbling along before the campaign and we are looking forward to more announcements on federal/state relations and how local government can be put on a firm financial footing. ALGA has long argued for at least 1% of general taxation revenue to address the inequity of our position as service providers in comparison with the states which receive the GST.

The other issues detailed in our 10-Point Plan such as climate change and protecting water resources for communities have been discussed in the lead-up to the campaign and we are looking forward to further announcements.

This campaign is a long one. We have had signals that local government's agenda has been seriously considered and that all those letters, phone calls, emails and face-to-face meetings with MPs, Senators and political candidates will pay off. However, we must take nothing for granted. Let’s keep lobbying right up to the election. I urge Mayors, Chairs and Councillors to keep pushing the case for your local communities, for better infrastructure, services and facilities. We must make sure that the more than 21 million Australians we serve across a diverse range of metropolitan, regional, rural and indigenous communities, are the real winners of the election campaign.

Cr Paul Bell AM
ALGA President

Land release policy highlights need for more infrastructure investment

Labor announced this week that if it wins government it would introduce a system that would release appropriate surplus Commonwealth government lands that would in turn assist in making communities better places to live as well as making housing more affordable.

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd announced a Labor government would identify surplus land which could be released for affordable housing, parkland or relevant commercial developments.

"What this is about is making sure that when you have government departments with surplus land, that priority is given to the needs of housing and community development," Mr Rudd told reporters in western Sydney.

The President of ALGA, Cr Paul Bell cautiously welcomed the ALP announcement. The issue of the housing affordability crisis is not new. Local councils around Australia have demanded that all governments, particularly a Australian Commonwealth Government, take this issue seriously and work with the private sector to properly address this challenge in a integrated and sustainable manner," he said.

Under Labor's plan, a national housing research supply council would coordinate the targeted release of any land.

Each year, every commonwealth government department would have to report to the housing minister and explain why surplus land should not be released for housing and community infrastructure development.

"While councils acknowledge that land supply is a major issue for some communities, for the majority of the country it is not," said Cr Bell.

Cr Bell warned that "any assessment of surplus Commonwealth lands should only be undertaken within the framework of existing regional and local planning strategies. To do anything otherwise would be to further undermine the ability of local and State governments to efficiently and effectively plan for our urban environments".

"What we really need is more investment in three areas. Firstly, Governments must place more emphasis and value in the upfront strategic and regional planning processes. Only by doing this will it be possible to address the strategic and long term needs of communities in a holistic manner," he said.

"Releasing more Commonwealth land that is not consistent with local and regional planning strategies, or worse, is completely ad-hoc and will cause more problems than it seeks to solve". Local governments are by their nature 'place managers' and housing release needs to be planned in association with transport, recreation facilities, utilities and supporting services be they schools and shopping facilities. As such, local government reiterates the need for substantial investment in community infrastructure.

"Thirdly, direct government investment and support for public and community housing is still required. Commonwealth and State governments can't shirk their responsibility."

Whilst the ALP announcement received its fair share of criticism, Cr Bell acknowledged that the Commonwealth land release proposal was not the only way Labor sought to improve housing affordability. Cr Bell noted that the land release option was the third plank of the Labor's policy to address housing affordability.

The other components of the ALP platform include a $500 million housing affordability fund for essential infrastructure, and a $603 million national rental affordability scheme to encourage $2.5 billion of private investment in low cost rental accommodation.

"Labor is on record that it may have more up its sleeve on housing affordability during this election campaign. If this is the case, local government looks forward to these announcements and the responses from the other parties," said Cr Bell.

Tourism Impact Model seminars

In 2007, the Federal Minister for Tourism and Small Business, the Hon Fran Bailey MP released a new web-based Tourism Impact Model (TIM). TIM allows councils to estimate the costs and benefits of tourism on their budgets and on their local areas. TIM can be accessed by local governments at www.newtim.com.au. Access has been provided to every council in Australia.

In order to promote and assist in greater usage of the model, the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources will hold national workshops in Sydney and Darwin.

The workshop will cover how TIM operates, what it can be used for and it will also highlight recent improvements in the model.

It will also cover the next data update which will be undertaken before the end of the year.

The workshop will be of particular interest to local government tourism and economic development officers.

The first workshop will be held at the Local Government Association of NSW, Level 8, 28 Margaret Street Sydney NSW 2000. It will take place from 10.30 am to 3.00 pm on Tuesday 30 October 2007.

The Darwin workshop will take place from 10.45 am to 3.00 pm on Thursday 29 November 2007 in Darwin. The Darwin workshop will be held in Darwin at the at the Darwin City Council offices at Harry Chan Avenue, Darwin.

If there is sufficient demand, we shall repeat the Darwin workshop on Friday 30 November.

The workshop will coincide with the National General Assembly of Local Governments which will take place in Darwin from 27 to 29 November.

If your local government wishes to send participant(s), could they please email the following details: their name, position, Email address and phone number, preferably before cob Friday 19 October 2007 to paul.kauffman@industry.gov.au. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Workshop details will then be forwarded to participants.

The workshops are free, and a free sandwich lunch and refreshments will also be provided for participants.

Promotional opportunity for consideration

The National Local Government Drug and Alcohol Advisory Committee (NLGDAAC) has secured an information booth at the 4th Australasian Drug Strategy Conference (Meeting the future: innovative and effective policy and practice) to be held at Conrad Jupiters, Gold Coast from 22-25 October 07 to raise awareness of how local government across Australia respond to alcohol and other drug-related issues.

Local Government associations and councils are invited to provide copies, samples and give-aways of alcohol and other drug-related reports, brochures, posters, business cards, CDs, DVDs and other collateral for dissemination.

A representative will attend the information booth each day and would be more then willing to promote local government alcohol and other drug-related projects.

If you are interested in participating (ie supplying resource material), please contact Julia McLauchlan (telephone 07 3403 6945 or email julia.mclauchlan@brisbane.qld.gov.au) for delivery details. Deliveries need to be received by Thursday 18 October.

Further information: www.police.qld.gov.au/News+and+Alerts/
campaigns/drugconf/

Join the Great Australian dung beetle challenge!

(Extract from Landcare Australia News 19 September 2007)

Landcare Australia is excited to launch its first web based project involving kids, computers and poo! The Great Australian Dung Beetle Challenge has been developed by Landcare Australia in collaboration with the CSIRO to help build more information on these fantastic little workers and where they live. The project is aimed at upper primary and junior high school students, and is a great way for kids to learn about their environment while being involved in a real science project. As part of the project, kids will be undertaking practical work recording important scientific information which will help scientists to map the distribution of dung beetle species across Australia. As well as playing a hands-on role in this exciting project, participants will also go into the running to win one of three great prizes, including a Playstation 3, Water Monitoring Kit and Sony Digital Camera! Registrations close soon so don't delay, for more information and to register for your project kit head to www.juniorlandcare.com.au/dungbeetles

The Australian Institute of Criminology has released a fact sheet

AICrime Reduction Matters no. 62: Targeting youth gangs at a grass roots level

This paper uses Australian and overseas research to suggest ways of combating youth crime gangs.

Copies of the fact sheets are attached, with a complete list of AIC publications available here.

NSW Government helps developers, hurts communities

The Local Government and Shires Associations of NSW has hit out at a NSW State Government plan to decrease developer contributions.

"Local Government supports improving housing affordability, but there is no guarantee cutting developer contributions will translate to savings for home buyers," President of the Local Government Association, Cr Genia McCaffery said.

"How is the Government going to guarantee developers pass on savings? Who is going to pick up the infrastructure short fall? The Government says it will fund more projects, but how? They either have to cough up or make it easier for councils to raise their own funds by removing measures such as rate pegging.

"Levies raised by councils belong to the community and are spent for their benefit. The State Government must not raid these funds for some hidden purpose.

"Making it cheaper for developers to build is not putting the community at the centre of the planning system. This is a Government pandering to the development industry to the detriment of families."

President of the Shires Association of NSW, Cr Bruce Miller, said Local Government and its communities were not consulted.

"Councils and their communities were not consulted on this proposal, yet will be the ones most impacted by the changes," Cr Miller said.

"Councils across the State are already facing a $6.3 billion infrastructure back log, yet the Government responds by cutting the funds that are available.

"There is no guarantee that this decision will lead to increased land release, and who will want to live in poorly serviced areas?

"Unless the Government guarantees it will pick up the funding shortfall, and puts in place strict guidelines requiring developers to pass on savings, we'll be faced with a situation where communities wait 20 or 30 years for basic infrastructure."
Shape the agenda from day one!

With the election called for Saturday 24 November, just before the National General Assembly which starts on Monday 26 November, it is now more important than ever that you attend this pivotal event.

By then we will almost certainly know the make-up of our new federal parliament and who will be Prime Minister.

This year's Assembly presents an enormous opportunity for local government to identify the key issues and present a united voice in shaping the future political agenda for Australia.

As local government faces the impacts of climate change, seeks financial sustainability and our place in the Australian Constitution the National General Assembly provides a platform for us to 'get on the front foot' and work with the new Federal Government.

To register your attendance, go to http://nga.alga.asn.au/event/2007/ or for more information contact Clare Hogan on 02 6122 9436

Council plebiscite date

The Local Government Association of Queensland says a delay on council plebiscites by the Australian Electoral Commission will water down their outcome.

The AEC's announced the plebiscites, which will allow residents to have their say on local government amalgamations, will take place after the November 24 federal election.

LGAQ's Greg Hallam says councils fulfilled their commitments five weeks ago and had been assured the postal ballots would occur before the election.

Northern Territory plebiscites

This week the Prime Ministers announced that he would offer plebiscites to Northern Territory councils on local government reforms. The Commonwealth Government has expressed in-principle support for the broad direction of these reforms as they aim to deliver economies of scale, increased efficiencies and improved municipal services, including in remote communities. The Prime Minister indicated that given the importance of the efficiency reforms he believed it is essential for community and business interests to have their say.

Election stops presentations for 2007 national local government awards

The Department of Transport and Regional Services has advised that the Presentation Dinner for the 2007 National Local Government Awards, planned to be held on 23 October in Canberra, has been cancelled. The cancellation follows the announcement of the date for the Federal Election which means that the Dinner would have fallen within the Caretaker period, a circumstance which DOTARS did not feel was appropriate.

As a consequence of cancelling the Dinner there will be no announcement of the winners of the 2007 National Awards for Local Government at this stage. The national winners would have been drawn from the 26 category award winners who were announced on 23 July 2007. The full details of the category winners, selected from nearly 300 entries, can be found on the DOTARS website at www.dotars.gov.au/local/awards

Greens - "Oil-Proofing Australia"

Australian Greens Climate and Energy Spokesperson, Senator Christine Milne announced this week "the first plank of the Australian Greens' plan to oil-proof Australia". This involves replacing 90% of Australia's petrol demand by 2050 with electricity from renewable energy and second generation biofuels.

This initial announcement is only the beginning of policies aimed at reducing carbon production and oil usage. Boosting public transport funding; increasing investment in clean, alternative fuels; helping shift freight from road to rail and sea; and replacing tax incentives to private car use with carbon-based taxes; are areas of concern that the Greens will be pursuing.

Labor commitment to National Healthy Planning Guidelines - "Healthy Spaces and Places Project"

The first week of the election campaign has seen the Shadow Minister for Sport and Recreation, Local Government and Health Promotion, Senator Kate Lundy, pledge $710,000 to support the Healthy Places and Spaces project, an existing partnership between the Planning Institute of Australia, the Heart Foundation and the Australian Local Government Association.

The funding will enable the project to complete the development of a national guide for planners and other professionals to better integrate healthy planning principles in their work to achieve improved outcomes within our communities. The funding will also enable the delivery of a wide range of activities, including workshops and seminars to ensure these guidelines are put into practice at the local level.

ALGA has welcomed the commitment to the further development of this unique partnership, and looks forward to working to achieve a quality outcome that will improve the resources and capacity of local government to respond to the many health challenges that face our nation.

The project work to date has already demonstrated that partnerships between the Australian Government and bodies such as the Planning Institute, National Heart Foundation and ALGA can develop practical and broad based tools to improve they way planning, services and policy are implemented on the ground.

The development of the "Healthy Spaces and Places Guidelines", and some of the practical things local government can do to integrate health planning principles into their communities will also be addressed in detail at the Health and Ageing session the National General Assembly of Local Government to be held in Darwin.

National Housing Conference, Sydney 2008 21-22 February

The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), the NSW Department of Housing and the Australian Government Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs are pleased to once again host the National Housing Conference. This event brings together all those with an interest in housing to discuss and debate the future direction of Australia's housing system.

Funding flows under $10 billion national plan for water security

Key programs under the $5.9 billion Modernising Irrigation component of the $10 billion National Plat) for Water Security have been launched.

Under the $1.6 billion On-Farm Efficiency Program of the National Plan for Water Security, organisations with direct links to on-farm irrigators are invited to apply for funding. Each pilot project will be required to save at least 25 mega litres per water entitlement for returning permanently to the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder.

A second component of the National Plan for Water Security package is the Irrigation Modernisation Planning Assistance program. A nationally advertised call for proposals has begun directed at private irrigation water providers. Successful applicants will be eligible to receive funding of up to $500,000 to support development of modernisation plans for their districts. Modernisation plans will identify potential water savings available through the upgrade of aging irrigation infrastructure.

As part of this announcement the Australian Government is committing to support two projects to assist the development of a modernisation plan: Macquarie Valley and Murray Irrigation Limited. The Australian Government will also provide $3.3 million, from the $5.9 billion modernising irrigation in Australia program, to improve river operations in the South Australian Murray by permanently disconnecting the Yatco Lagoon.

More information on www.environment.gov.au

Council leads city youth on air

Shoalhaven City Council has been working with local youths to get a radio project on air.

Council's Community Development Team has been working with the Shoalhaven Youth Centres Committee and young people from the Nowra Youth Centre, Sanctuary Point Youth & Community Centre and Ulladulla Youth Centre to get the Shoalhaven Youth Radio Project off the ground.

The Team secured an ArtStart Funding Grant for $6,230 for the Shoalhaven Youth Radio Project, which is to be finalised by November 2007.

Shoalhaven's Library and Community Services Manager Noela Lim said the project will involve young people putting together pre-recorded youth-specific radio shows at the Youth Centres.

"These pre-recorded shows will then be broadcast on air on regular time slots on Triple U and 92.7 BBFM Community Radio," Mrs Lim said. "We are hoping that the regular radio producers will then be able to produce live to air shows and join Triple U and 92.7BBFM Community Radio as volunteers.

"This is a fantastic skill set for young people. It may also see people in this project progress to work in radio."

Awards to promote women in local decision-making

Through its involvement in the UCLG Global Program for the Promotion of Women in Local Decision-Making (WLDM), UCLG ASPAC is committed to promote equal representation of women in local government decision-making and the mainstreaming of gender in local government policy-making and service-provision.

UN HABITAT Fukuoka Office has just launched the UN-HABITAT Regional Awards on "Gender and Rights-Responsive Sustainable Cities in Asia and the Pacific". The timely theme of the 2007 award is "Mainstreaming Gender and Human Rights in Post-Disaster, Post-Conflict and Disaster Preparedness".

The objectives of the awards is for UN-HABITAT Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific to acknowledge cities, civil society and individual contributions on the promotion of gender mainstreaming as a component to creating rights responsive sustainable cities in the Asia and Pacific region. Application and Eligibility information of the awards is as attached.

Please kindly note that the deadline for applications is 30 November 2007. Further information about the awards is available on UN-HABITAT website at www.fukuoka.unhabitat.org/topics/
gender/gender_e/awards_e.html

Food Safety Week 2007

Get read for National Food Safety Week 2007, 12-19 November 2007, by ordering brochures, posters, DVDs, and other items at: www.foodsafety.asn.au/foodsafetyweek/

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 to Local Government a general food safety poster and brochures focusing on general food safety, aged care and grey nomads. Other items available include fridge thermometers and a DVD of short videos on fridge packing, cross-contamination, barbeques, packing a cooler and hand washing.

These items can be distributed during Food Safety Week, or any other time of the year. Just email your requirements and contact details, including a mailing address.
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.
The Council is a non-profit group supported by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, state and territory health and food safety agencies, local government, and leading community, industry and professional organizations, including the Australian Institute of Environmental Health.

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

Quote of the week

"Radio Host Neil Mitchell: 'The foreplay has been protracted. How do you make the act interesting?' Kevin Rudd: 'I don't think I'll sustain the analogy.'"

International news  

"Towards a new culture for urban mobility" is the title of the Green Paper adopted on 25 September by the European Commission to open a debate on the key issues of urban mobility: free-flowing and greener towns and cities, smarter urban mobility and an urban transport which is accessible, safe and secure for all European citizens.

"European cities are different but they share similar challenges: congestion, climate change, pollution, safety. The Green Paper will focus European attention on the urban dimension of transport policy and put the spotlights on innovative policies which pioneering cities throughout Europe are putting in place", said Vice-President Jacques Barrot, Commissioner in charge of Transport. "My purpose is to find out what Europe can do to support those policies."

The Green Paper sets a European agenda for urban mobility, while respecting the responsibilities of local, regional and national authorities in this field. The Commission wants to launch a discussion on how it can best enable the development of a new culture for urban mobility in Europe. The Paper addresses the questions, for example, of how the quality of collective transport can be improved, how the use of clean and energy efficient technologies can be increased, how walking and cycling can be promoted and how the rights of collective transport passengers can be protected.

More detail at: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.
do?reference=IP/07/1389&format

State of the Regions report 2006-07