ALGA News

From the President

The financial sustainability of local government is an issue which fits into the taxation debate the Commonwealth has been having with the states recently. The tax debate has two dimensions. The first is the level of taxation and who pays, the second is what it is spent on and how it is distributed to fund government services. The issue of a direct funding revenue stream for local government is an extremely important issue and, in a perfect world, it is one that the Treasurer and Shadow Treasurer should be discussing in their election debate on Tuesday. However, I suspect they will focus on tax cuts and further cosmetic changes rather than fundamental reform of the taxation system.

The federal-state debate that has been played out in the media recently is focused on federal and state government funding and responsibilities. It does not cut through to the more important question about the best way to carve up the nation's taxation revenues which has flowed from the growth in GDP including the mining boom, and the extra revenue stream from the GST that flow to the states.

In pursuit of Fair Treatment, ALGA negotiated and signed in April 2006 an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA), to tackle cost shifting, from the Federal and State and Territory Governments. While pursuing the implementation of the IGA, ALGA turned its attention in mid-2006 to the issue of Fair Funding and in particular the question of local government financial sustainability.

We commissioned a report on from PricewaterhouseCoopers in June 2006 which was released in December 2006. The PricewaterhouseCoopers report recommended revising the escalation methodology for Financial Assistance Grants which have steadily declined from 1.01% in 1996 to its current level of 0.76%. This is an issue of fairness. Local government does not have a sufficient direct funding stream and will continue to push for at least 1% of direct taxation revenue.

In relation to infrastructure, with a $14.5 billion backlog in infrastructure spending by local government, federal funding is needed as a matter of high priority. Communities urgently need upgrading of existing infrastructure such as swimming pools, ovals, walking tracks and libraries.

The Australian Local Government Association, through its membership of 14 Ministerial Councils and the Council of Australian Governments (CoAG), has achieved much over the past year. We have argued presented a strong case for reform. Reform of:

the Australian Constitution; the taxation system; and infrastructure spending so that local government, the sphere of government closest to the people, is free to do what it does best - serve the needs of local communities throughout Australia. Now we must hope that our nation's leaders deal with the old chestnut of both dimensions of tax reform and do something about it before it is too late and we squander the benefits of our booming economy.

Cr Paul Bell AM
ALGA President

WA local government TV campaign wins national award

A television advertising campaign to promote Local Government in Western Australia has won a national award for marketing excellence. The WA Local Government Association won the consumer insight category of the Australian Marketing Institute's annual awards for developing their campaign around the critical finding of the importance of trust to community satisfaction in council performance. Among the organisations that competed with WALGA as national finalists were Ericsson, Telstra, St George Bank, Sunbeam, ANZ, Stockland and Tourism Australia. WALGA has recently created additional television advertising to target skill shortages in specific vocation and to encourage voter participation at the recent Council elections in WA.

The four television advertisements developed by WALGA and intended to be shown to delegates at the National General Assembly in Darwin next month. The advertisements can also be seen at www.walga.asn.au

Liverpool, Goulburn scoop Bluett Awards

The Chairman of the A.R. Bluett Memorial Trust, John Flannery PSM, has announced that the A.R. Bluett Memorial Award for 2006/2007 has been awarded to:

Shires Association Section: Liverpool Plains Shire Council
Local Government Association Section: Goulburn Mulwaree Council

The Bluett Award is presented each year to the council that, in the opinion of the trustees, has made the greatest relative progress. It is considered to be the highest accolade to which a council can aspire.

Mr Flannery also announced that Highly Commended Awards would be made this year to entries from Temora Shire Council, Clarence Valley Council and Penrith City Council.

This was the first year of revised and simplified entry rules for the Bluett Award and the Trustees were very pleased that 19 councils competed for the awards.

Wanted - eager applicants for Board appointments

ALGA has been approached by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to identify local government people for part-time positions on boards associated with Australia's rural industries. These range from industry-based research and development corporations (RDCs) to marketing and regulatory authorities, to advisory councils and groups. There will be a broad range of vacancies in 2008, particularly in the RDCs, with many boards due for renewal next year. These vacancies provide an excellent opportunity to appoint some 'fresh faces,' with new ideas, energy and direction. Appointments for the various organizations are part-time, usually for three years and women and young people are especially encouraged to apply to reflect the significant contribution those groups make to the success of the rural sector. The Department is particularly looking for those with a background or an interest in Australian agriculture, fishing, forestry or food processing.

Further information on the database and how to register can be obtained from Ms Wendy Griffin on 02 6272 4540 or by email at balance@daff.gov.au

Child Support Agency: supporting families

The Child Support Agency (CSA) will be at the Darwin ALGA National General Assembly to promote its products, workplace programs and services and to seek partnerships with local government in supporting separated families.

Separated families are common in Australia. CSA assists almost 1.5 million separated parents in their efforts to provide financial and emotional support to their children. CSA has transferred nearly $20 billion between parents since 1988, yet also provides information, advice and referrals to community support services to assist parents to make decisions in the best interests of their children.

Local councils are ideally placed to engage with separated families because they already provide social support services, are accessible and have well established networks in the community. This presents a great opportunity for CSA and local governments to work together.

Major improvements to child support services and processes are currently underway and will be in place by July 2008. Amongst many changes, these improvements provide a stronger community focus with more local CSA offices offering face to face services.

Both CSA and local government provide services to families and forming an effective partnership between CSA and local government can build a stronger support network. CSA are keen to pilot two or three partnerships with local councils in various geographic or social areas.

For more information about CSA and its programs, products or partnering with CSA, contact Dr Paul Jelfs on (02) 6212 4001, (paul.jelfs@csa.gov.au) or visit our website www.csa.gov.au. CSA also asks that interested councils drop by their stand at the ALGA Conference and find out more.

Ministerial Council meetings postponed

As a consequence of the upcoming Federal election, several COAG Ministerial Council meetings have been formally postponed. The Ministerial Council for Police and Emergency Management - Emergency Management, Ministerial Council for Local Government and Planning, and Cultural Ministers Council were planned to place in late November, in Christchurch, Brisbane and Canberra respectively, but will now most likely take place sometime early 2008.

ALGA, represented through President Bell or his nominated delegate, is a participant in fourteen ministerial Councils, including COAG.

The Urban 45 - the way ahead for sustainable cities

At a recent summit in Melbourne, the Urban 45 put forward 45 challenging ideas to address 15 urban issues in Australia's cities. The Urban 45, its summit and the resulting manifesto were organised by a coordinating committee of academics - from RMIT University in Melbourne and the University of Tasmania in Hobart. See www.rmit.edu.au/urban45

Annual Conference - New Zealand Association for Impact assessment

Theme: Assessing Assessing the Impacts of Growth on our Urban Areas. The NZAIA Annual Conference will be held in Auckland on 29-30 November 2007. For further information see NZAIA web site: www.nzaia.org.nz

November 7 - 9 Online Event

Registrations are now open: http://networksevents.flexiblelearning.net.au

This online event showcases some of the latest developments and future directions of e-learning in Australia and internationally. The site will be accessible from Wednesday 31 October.

More time for submissions to Regional Telecommunications Review

The Independent Committee undertaking the Regional Telecommunications Review has extended the closing date for public submissions to the review until Friday, 7 December 2007.

The Independent Committee invites individuals, businesses and industry groups, community and interest groups to submit their views. People who have already made a submission are welcome to provide additional comment during this extended period if they choose.

For more information on the Review, making submissions, and copies of the discussion paper visit the website at www.rtirc.gov.au or phone 1800 064 851 (free call).

City of Newcastle leads by example - ClimateCam World's First

Newcastle City Council has erected a huge electronic billboard in the city square telling residents exactly how much greenhouse gas they have produced in the past hour.

ClimateCam, the world's first greenhouse gas speedometer, displays electricity consumption information collected from the 15 substations that supply homes and businesses in the Newcastle local government area.

By tracking this usage and linking it to other greenhouse emissions from waste, natural gas and transport, ClimateCam can measure the progress of energy-saving actions.

The city energy and resource manager of Newcastle City Council, Peter Dormand, says the mayor of London is now working with the International Climate Group with the intention of installing ClimateCam there.

The council is now introducing ClimateCams for schools, businesses, households and other councils, "a family of programs that will show people how to make a difference".

Sixty schools have registered so far for the program (the target is 350) and the product has been designed so that it can be done online (www.climatecam.com).

Adult Learning Australia (ALA) Annual National Conference

The conference will be held on 8 - 10 November in, Cairns QLD. The theme is Adult Learning and Literacy: Policy and Practice. For more information about the Conference theme and streams click here. For more information please call (02) 6274 9500 or email info@ala.asn.au

Make a written contribution to a new book - 'Landcare Making a Difference'

The Australian Landcare Council is overseeing the publication of a book celebrating Landcare's achievements over the last 20 years. The book will focus on how land managers have made lasting contributions to the management of Australia's landscapes - 'Landcare Making a Difference' will be a central theme. It will include Landcare stories from around Australia with the lessons learned from Landcare activities being highlighted. The book will be used to promote Landcare to the general public, as well as to Members of Parliament, local government members, regional NRM boards, industry representatives, and potential corporate sponsors. If you would like to contribute a story please contact landcare@secretariat.com.au for further instructions. Contributions are sought by 31 October 2007.

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Local Govt strategies for dealing with an ageing community

Innovative strategies to address the ageing population will be the focus of an important national conference, with case study presentations from a range of councils including Bass Coast Shire Council, Coffs Harbour City Council, City of Melville, Town of Victor Harbour, Gosford City Council, Broken Hill City Council, Shellharbour City Council and others.

Local government managers and councillors, concerned about the social and economic impact of providing aged care services and infrastructure within communities, will have a unique opportunity to learn from the experiences and strategies being pursued by councils across Australia.

The Local Responses to an Ageing Community Conference. will be held in Sydney from November 20-21 and will focus on innovative strategies being pursued by councils across Australia. It will enable managers and councillors to familiarise themselves with award-winning, best practice case studies.

Peter Oldsen, from Broken Hill City Council, for example, will outline to the conference how his council has been able to secure aged care and retirement village facilities through a lease back arrangement.

Delegates will also have the opportunity to hear about excellence in HACC service delivery, public transport accessibility options, health and wellbeing programs and built environment solutions. The conference will examine the mechanisms for local government to foster partnerships with aged care providers and it will also provide an opportunity to network with aged and community services managers in local government from all parts of the country. For more information visit www.halledit.com.au/conferences/ageing/2007.

Election Week 2 - Transport Announcements

Week 2 of the election campaign saw further announcements of funding for road infrastructure by the Coalition and Labor. These included announcements of funding for the Cape York Peninsula Road by the Coalition and for the extension of Tiger Brennan Drive in Darwin by Labor.

ALGA is tracking the transport commitments of the major parties and recording these on the ALGA Election 07 website: www.alga.asn.au

ALGA is looking forward to further announcements as the campaign progresses and both major parties release more detailed policies. At this early stage, there has been no recommitment yet in the election context by either of the major parties to R2R or any other initiative to assist local government's transport concerns. Funding for R2R however is locked in for the period of the Budget forward estimates and there have been commitments in the Budget context to continue the program through to 2014.

To date there has been no specific commitment from either of the major parties to address urban transport issues such as those identified in the ALGA 10-Point Plan to Reinvigorate Local Communities. The 10-Point Plan in relation to urban transport calls on a future Federal Government to:

• Review the Fringe Benefits provisions that encourage the use of cars so as to also encourage the use of public transport; and
• Address sustainable urban transport including efficient freight, passenger and public transport.

During the past week the Greens have restated their plans for public transport including:

• a multi-billion investment over ten years in public transport;
• removing GST from public transport
• eliminating level crossings in urban areas;
• examine the potential for a congestion tax with the proceeds to be used for public transport; and
• assist states and territories to meet the cost of free public transport trials.

'ALGA News' will provide a further update on the state of play in next week's edition.

Coalition announces Climate Change Fund

This week Prime Minister John Howard committed to the establishment of a Climate Change fund for substantial investments in the transition to a low carbon economy and to reduce the impact of a carbon price on households. The key purpose of the fund will be to ensure that emissions trading revenues are re-invested in climate change and related initiatives.

For more information visit: www.alga.asn.au/Election2007/environment.php/

Nationals proposal to improve the Rural Medical Infrastructure Fund

The Nationals have announced a Coalition proposal to strengthen and improve the delivery of projects under the existing Rural Medical Infrastructure Fund program currently delivered by the Australian Government.

This program was developed to contribute to the cost of local medical infrastructure including fit out for walk-in, walk-out community health and medical facilities for doctors and allied health professional services.

The changes proposed will see the review and reform of the eligibility and assessment criteria for funding to make the process more effective and timely. The population threshold criteria will be also be amended enabling towns in excess of 10,000 to now apply, however they must be located within the Inner Regional, Outer Regional, Remote and Very Remote classifications used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The cap for projects will be raised from $400,000 to $1 million per project, and up to $5 million per year will be available.

These reforms are consistent with many of the suggested improvements that have been identified under the joint "Better Health for Rural Communities" joint initiative that ALGA is a party to with The Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA), Country Women's Association of Australia (CWAA), National Farmers Federation (NFF), and the Health Consumers of Rural and Remote Australia (HCRRA).

Further information on the announcement can be found here.

Greens call for National Affordable Housing Plan

Greens lead Senate candidate for Queensland Larissa Waters has announced The Greens affordable housing policies.

Ms Waters called on the Labor and Liberal parties to "get serious" about addressing the housing affordability crisis in Queensland and commit to work with the States to develop an evidence-based National Affordable Housing Plan.

Ms Waters said in the Senate, The Greens would push to develop an evidence-based national plan for Affordable Housing which included:

• using taxes and incentives to promote investment in affordable housing;
• ensuring all levels of planning consider affordable housing;
• a definition of affordable housing based on after housing costs income levels;
• new developments to include 20% low cost and public housing;
• improving energy and water use efficiency in all existing homes to reduce electricity bills; and
• regular evaluation of all affordable housing initiatives to determine their effectiveness.

National networking breakfast

The Australian Local Government Women's Association Inc invites ALGA Delegates, members and friends to the ALGWA National Breakfast to be held in conjunction with the ALGA General Assembly.

Date: Wednesday 28th November
Time: 7-30am concluding 8-30am
Venue: Litchfield Room, Holiday Inn, The Esplanade Darwin
Hosted by Kaele Way JP, National President ALGWA
Cost per person: ALGWA Members $30-00 Non members $35.00

A cooked breakfast will be served
More Information on http://www.algwa.net.au/news_and_events.php
Enquiries: 0412 177793

Eastern Victoria Coastline the leader in Australian Urban Design

When it comes to urban design, the Coastal Towns Design Framework, in particular the work carried out by Meinhardt Infrastructure and Environment Pty Ltd, has been rewarded for commitment and innovation in the field. The 2007 Australia Award for Urban Design was presented to an outstanding recent urban design innovation, at a ceremony in Adelaide.

The Award is hosted by the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA), the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, and the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects. It is Australia’s only multi-disciplinary award recognising excellence in the built environment.

The judges were impressed by the fact that all design protocols were described, costed and prioritised over a 15 year time horizon, providing councils with a comprehensive overview of the economic cost and benefit of the plans as well as a tool to plan implementation. In this way the project gives enormous assistance to local councils that ordinarily would not have access to this level of quality advice.

NSW LGSA sets agenda for 2008

Climate change, planning, Local Government reform and dealing with the impacts of the drought will be the focus for NSW councils and their communities over the coming year, according to the President of the Local Government Association of NSW, Cr Genia McCaffery.

During her opening address at the annual conference this afternoon, Cr McCaffery said councils had a responsibility to 'anchor the future' of NSW communities.

On the issue of climate change, the president said Local Government had shown real leadership:

"NSW councils don't need other spheres of government to remind us of our role. Councils are queuing to sign the Mayor's Agreement on Climate Change, committing their councils to greenhouse targets and urging other governments to follow."

While she raised concern and alarm with announced and proposed planning reforms by Frank Sartor, she reiterated that any changes needed to put communities at the centre of the planning system.

On the issue of the reform of Local Government as a sector, Cr McCaffery encouraged councils to take the lead.

"We all have different views on what reforms are required and how far they should go. In the end, however, one thing is probably certain - we can work with our communities and reform ourselves, or we can have it done to us."

Smoke-free motion passed at NSW Local Government Association Conference

Increases in penalties for deliberately lighting bushfires, restrictions on the sale of spray paint cans, smoke-free environmental policies for councils, grant funding for the development of sports facilities and a review of methodology of levying rates were all motions passed at the NSW Local Government Association Conference this week. More details on the LGSA website

Unified planning for Tasmania

The Tasmanian Government is hailing a new era for local government planning in the state's north-west.

The Tasmanian Government, the Cradle Coast Authority, and local councils in the north-west coast and on King Island have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to provide a more unified approach to development and land use throughout the region.

The Government has committed half a million dollars to the project.

Community water grants announced

The Environment and Water Resources Minister, Malcolm Turnbull announced 4661 grants for community water projects worth a total of $174 million. It was estimated that the 4661 projects would save or better manage 12 billion litres of water a year. Information on successful projects will be available on the Community Water Grants website on Wednesday 24th October.

Round 10 Envirofund grants announced

The Round 10 Envirofund grants focused on coastal and marine projects were recently announced. For more information on the projects funded please visit: www.nht.gov.au/envirofund/
round10/index.html

Funding for local climate change action - application forms available!

The Australian Government has recently announced funding to assist local government adapt to climate change. Grants of up to $50,000 each to a total of $2 million will be provided under the Local Adaptation Pathways Programme to help councils undertake risk assessments and develop action plans to prepare for the likely local impacts of climate change. Further information and application forms are available here.

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STATE OF AUSTRALIAN CITIES

 

Standard registration closes
1 November 2007

Following the successful conferences held in Sydney in 2003 and Brisbane in 2005, the Third State of Australian Cities Conference will be held in Adelaide from Wednesday 28 to Friday 30 November 2007. The Conference will be an opportunity for academics, government officers, private sector participants in the urban development process and others to explore contemporary urban policy issues and to learn about the latest research findings on Australian cities.

SOAC 2007 is jointly hosted by the University of South Australia, The University of Adelaide and Flinders University. It will be held at the City East campus at the University of South Australia and the University of Adelaide.

The three day program will include over 120 presentations with keynote addresses by:

• Steve Dovers, Professor in the Fenner School for Environment and Society, The Australian National University
• Ruth Fincher, Professor of Geography, the University of Melbourne
• Brendan Gleeson, Professor of Urban Policy and Management and Director of the Urban Research Program, Griffith University
• Pauline McGuirk, Director of the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies and Professor of Human Geography, University of Newcastle

Register on-line now at www.unisa.edu.au/soac2007 Email soac2007@unisa.edu.au