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National General Assembly...only three sleeps away!

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The National General Assembly of Local Government will kick off on Monday in Darwin with the Regional Co-operation and Development Forum and the launch of the State of the Regions Report 2007-08.

This year's report will be available for order on the ALGA website from Monday at midday and will focus on climate change, its implications and its impact on regional Australia and how local government can lead the way by developing mitigation and adaption strategies in collaboration with state and federal governments.

Tuesday will be the official opening of the General Assembly by President Cr Paul Bell followed by a dazzling line-up of speakers including: Australian of the Year Professor Tim Flannery, futurist Richard Neville, Constitutional expert Professor Cheryl Saunders, former NZ Minister for Finance Sir Roger Douglas, and climate change guru Nick Rowley.

Delegates will face difficult choices on which concurrent sessions to attend with high-profile presenters leading discussion on issues of critical importance for local government such as constitutional recognition, media and communications, climate change, financial sustainability, and health and ageing.

Debate on the 63 motions is an important part of each year's Assembly and discussions are centred on local government's national agenda of Fair Funding, Fair Treatment and Formal Recognition.

This is an event not to be missed!

Roads - the election story for local government

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The 2007 election campaign has resulted in large numbers of commitments by both the major parties to specific road projects around the country. The major projects are listed on the ALGA election website.

There are similarities, as well as some significant differences, between Labor and the Coalition when it comes to transport policies that impact on local government.

Both the Coalition and Labor are committed to an enhanced Roads to Recovery Program extending to 2014. Neither major party however has responded to the specific call from Local Government to make the Roads to Recovery Program permanent nor for flexibility in the use of the funding from the Program for transport purposes more generally if that meets the requirements of an individual council. ALGA will be continuing to pursue the future government on this later issue in the development of AusLink II legislation.

A number of the announced projects, both road and rail, in the major urban areas will assist in addressing urban congestion. Both major parties have given commitments to rail freight upgrades and intermodal terminals in the Sydney basin. There however has not been any commitment from the major parties to assist directly with urban public transport issues. The Greens policy however calls for Federal funding involvement in this area of transport.

The Coalition has committed to providing an additional $550 million for the Strategic Regional Program over the course of AusLink II. These funds will directly benefit local government which could be expected to be the beneficiary of the majority of these funds. The Coalition has also promised to establish a new $300 million Development Roads Program aimed at roads not on the AusLink network that are under pressure from developments such as mining or the timber plantation industries. While no details have been provided, it appears both local and state roads would be eligible for funding. Labor has not matched this commitment.

Labor has committed to establishing a taskforce in both NSW and WA to review grain lines and committed to making the necessary investment from AusLink II based on the recommendations of the taskforces. This commitment recognizes the importance of an efficient logistics for the Australian grain harvest and the impact on the local road system of grain line closures. There is no Coalition commitment to specifically address this issue of concern to many councils in the grain growing regions in Australia. There is to a large extent a commonality of projects that have been promised by both the Coalition and Labor when it comes to the major projects such as the Pacific Highway, the Bruce Highway and major roads in and around the capital cities and regional centres. Generally these are projects in the planning and development stages on the AusLink network and the announcements confirm or give a funding commitment to these projects.

ALGA President Cr Paul Bell said he would work with the incoming government to ensure that election promises are upheld and continue to monitor road funding to ensure that the needs of Australian communities, whether urban, rural, regional or remote, are met. "Roads and transport are key priorities for local governments and ALGA will ensure that it remains on top of the national agenda," he said.

Water announcements in final week of campaign

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Labor water spokesman Anthony Albanese has announced Labor would support the Coalition's $10 billion National Water Plan for water security, encourage the states to sign up and fast-track $400 million for irrigation upgrades and water buybacks. Labor would restore 500 gigalitres to the Murray River urgently and 1500 gigalitres over the next decade. This follows earlier announcements of $1 billion in tax incentives for urban water projects, including desalination, stormwater harvesting and recycling, and $250 million to modernise and repair urban water systems and infrastructure. Labor has also promised $250 million in rebates for rainwater tanks and greywater systems in houses with a national target of recycling 30% of wastewater by 2015.

Also this week, Water Resources Minister Malcolm Turnbull allocated $340 million over three years for 'practical' urban water project, including support for stormwater harvesting and recycling in western Sydney, $50 million to reduce Adelaide's reliance on the Murray and $30 million each for stormwater harvesting in Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne. Prime Minister John Howard has promised $50 million for urban water projects in Tasmania and another $50 million for the regions.

Last week the Local Government Association of Tasmania (LGAT) called on all parties for a commitment of $350m of Federal funding for the delivery of water and sewerage services across Tasmania.
From the President

With the election to be decided tomorrow, in this column I will turn my attention to the task ahead for local government and our key priorities. Central to shaping the forward agenda is the National General Assembly which begins in Darwin next week.

This year's theme is A Climate for Change. It's a theme to help us address a range of important and topical issues facing local government. Under this banner we will explore a broad range of issues impacting on local government under three broad headings: Political Climate; Financial Climate and Natural Climate.

We have a packed program and a range of terrific speakers. In fact, it's probably the best line-up of speakers in the 14 years since the Assembly began. We have speakers of the calibre of Australian of the Year Professor Tim Flannery, futurist Richard Neville, Constitutional expert Professor Cheryl Saunders, former NZ Minister for Finance Sir Roger Douglas, and climate change guru Nick Rowley. We have concurrent sessions on constitutional recognition, media and communications, climate change, finances and health and ageing - which I encourage all of you to attend as they will help to shape debate in the coming year on these critical issues.

The launch of the State of the Regions report on Monday will highlight the challenges facing our rural, regional and remote councils in particular, the need for a large-scale roll out of high-speed, affordable broadband and the importance of being involved from the ground up along with the state and federal governments in climate change mitigation and adaption measures.

Motions this year focus strongly on ALGA's key policy initiatives - the '3 F's' - Fair Funding, Fair Treatment and Formal Recognition. This year, in acknowledgement of the theme of the National General Assembly, we have added a 4th F - Future Challenges.

There are motions on constitutional recognition, on calling for at least 1% of Commonwealth taxation revenue in the form of untied financial transfers to local government, on making Roads to Recovery funding permanent and on a Local Community Infrastructure Renewals Fund.

And, perhaps best of all, we will be attending the conference with our consciences cleared in the climate stakes! In recognition of the greenhouse gas emissions that will be produced in the running of the 2007 National General Assembly, the Australian Local Government Association has offset the Assembly's emissions with Australian Government approved carbon credits provided by Southern Metropolitan Regional Council. Southern Metropolitan Regional Council were recently presented with the National 2007 Greenhouse Challenge Plus Award for their significant contribution to combating climate change and global warming.

Looking forward to catching up with old and new friends next week and chewing the fat over these important matters. See you in Darwin!

Cr Paul Bell AM
ALGA President

New councillor resource kit for Tasmania

The Local Government Association of Tasmania launched a new Councillor Resource Kit today. The kit contains practical information to assist new councillors to become familiar with their roles and responsibilities in Local Government. It will also be a useful resource for existing councillors.

The kit serves to update the previous Elected Member Handbook and presents information and guidance in the following areas:

  • The Role of the Local Government Association of Tasmania
  • Understanding the Local Government Framework
  • Council Roles and Responsibilities
  • Tips for Effective Meetings
  • Accountability
  • Policy Development and Decision-making
  • Understanding Local Government Finance
  • Land Use Planning: The Basics
  • Councillor Learning and Development
  • Skills Checklist
  • Other Useful Resources
  • Key Organisations and Contacts

President of the Local Government Association of Tasmania, Mayor Mike Gaffney, said the Councillor Resource Kit, developed by the Association, is a useful document for all elected members, regardless of their experience in Local Government.

"This revised edition is more concise and user-friendly, and will be an invaluable source of information, particularly for newcomers to the Local Government sector," he said.

Copies of the kit will be distributed to all elected members and will soon be available for download from the LGAT website at www.lgat.tas.gov.au.

State of the Regions report 2006-07
NSW planning reform

The Local Government and Shires Associations of NSW has released Principles for Planning Reform – A Policy Platform.

The Platform has been developed to promote informed debate about planning reforms in NSW, with the Minister for Planning due to release a discussion paper by the end of November. The Associations are keen to ensure that councils and their communities get a say in how the planning system can be improved.

"The main objective of planning decisions and processes should be to build communities where people want to live," President of the Local Government Association of NSW, Cr Genia McCaffery said.

Some of the recommendations contained in the platform include:

  • Greater flexibility in the Standard LEP template to recognise local issues and areas that do not fit into the state-wide template.
  • Councils given the power to adequately levy developments at the local and regional level to provide for local facilities and services.
  • The principles of local democracy should be protected by retaining the community's elected representatives in their decision making role in the DA process, supported by advisory panels where considered appropriate.
DNA technology to identify guilty dogs

Dogs that attack people and animals can now be traced using new DNA technology being issued to local councils, the NSW government says.

A pack, including DNA collection swabs, gloves and tamper-proof evidence bags will enable council rangers to collect DNA from a dog's saliva, blood, hair or faeces and send it away for testing.

At the launch of the scheme, Botany Bay mayor Ron Hoenig welcomed the technology.

"This kit may be useful in identifying exactly what dog was responsible for a particular attack," Councillor Hoenig said.

"This type of technology may also exonerate owners where a dog has been falsely accused in involvement in an attack."

Owners of attacking dogs face maximum penalties of $55,000 or two years prison.

Quotes of the week

"Never leave a single door unlocked, there should be no neighbourhood dog that you have yet to encounter."
Kevin Rudd, urging Labor MPs on for a final campaign effort.

"Whenever you change the government you change the direction of the country."
John Howard

International news  

Households across England could soon be billed by their local councils for the amount of rubbish they throw away in an attempt to slash landfill waste.

Councils are to be given new powers by the government to introduce pilot schemes encouraging residents to recycle more of their garbage.

While the government is yet to outline the details of the programs, councils are expected to be given the option of introducing "pay-as-you-throw" style charges and financial rewards for those who do recycle.

The move comes as a new report warned Britain faces fines of more than $400 million because it is unlikely to meet the European Union's demand to dramatically reduce its biodegradable landfill waste before 2020.

The House of Commons public accounts committee report criticised the government for failing to act quickly enough to ensure Britain meets the targets, which were set in 1999.

It said that while half the population were committed recyclers, the government should do more to encourage recycling by spelling out exactly what people can put in recycle bins and the collection methods available.

Chairman of the cross-party committee, Conservative MP Edward Leigh, said the government also needed to speed up the development of "green" power stations which can process up to 15 million tonnes of waste a year to generate electricity.

"Waste treatment centres around the country will be a critical factor in reducing the UK's reliance on landfill," he said.

The report's release came amid confusion about whether the government would ultimately roll out compulsory "pay-as-you-throw" rubbish schemes across Britain.

Last week, Prime Minister Gordon Brown reportedly intervened to stop a scheduled announcement paving the way for households to be charged about $560 a year in "waste taxes".

But a Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) document published on the internet this week said English councils would be able to "introduce revenue-neutral financial incentive schemes" to boost household recycling.

However, the document was later altered to say councils in England would instead be given "power to pilot local authority incentives for household waste minimisation and recycling".

Chairman of the Local Government Association Environment Board Paul Bettison said the pilot schemes were a "significant step in the right direction".

"Britain is the dustbin of Europe, throwing more waste into landfill than any other country on the continent," he said.

"This simply cannot continue.

"There is now strong public support for schemes that reward people for recycling, and councils should be given the power to introduce these where it is appropriate to do so."

Some Conservative MPs fear that if people are charged extra for not recycling, many will just dump their garbage on public land or burn it in their backyards. (AAP)