As the peak body representing local government in Australia, ALGA makes numerous submissions and presentations to a broad range of organisations and bodies. These include:
- Parliamentary committees conducting inquiries of interest and relevance to local government
- National organisations conducting inquiries and studies, such as the Productivity Commission
- Political parties and individual parliamentarians
- The Australian Government, its ministers, departments and agencies
- International bodies and agencies
These submissions advance the interests of local government and address issues of concern to councils and the communities they collectively serve.
- Submission to the Productivity Commission on the Discussion Draft of Road and Freight Infrastructure Pricing
- 14 October 2006
- … As ALGA indicated in its original submission the debate from a local government perspective about pricing road and rail and their market shares is somewhat academic. Freight that moves interstate or for long interregional distances will travel largely on roads or rail tracks that are not the responsibility of local government. Local government's interest in this part of the journey is limited to the general one of achieving the greatest possible efficiency for the economy as a whole.
- ALGA submission to the review of the Australian Weeds Strategy
- 14 July 2006
- … The pressure on councils to provide a larger range of services is increasing. This, combined with an inability to significantly alter income levels, means local government has limited capacity to undertake increased activities in the area of weed management.
- Submission to the Joint Parliamentary Committee of Public Accounts and Audit. Audit report No:31 - Roads to Recovery
- 21 June 2006
- … While local government owns and manages the local road network and is responsible for its service provision, it is the Commonwealth and state/territory governments that are the beneficiaries of revenues derived from user charges on the network. It is accordingly a reasonable proposition that local government should receive transfer payments from other tiers of government in some sensible proportion to the wear and tear on the network. This is a strategic goal of local government that is under discussion in a number of inter-governmental forums.
- Submission to the Productivity Commission inquiry into road and rail freight infrastructure costs and pricing
- 26 May 2006
- … Local government is an important stakeholder in the development of policy on freight transport because of the various ways in which the sector impacts on local communities, be it through the cost of goods and materials, or through the more deleterious impacts of heavy freight transport such as noise and pollution.
- Response to the Mobile Connect discussion paper
- 20 February 2006
- … The Australian Government has in place a range of programs that are designed to help rural and remote Australia achieve its telecommunications infrastructure goals. However, ALGA considers that the way the Australian Government funds ICT programs for rural and remote Australia is not as effective as it could be.
- Broadband Connect and Clever Networks discussion paper
- 20 February 2006
- … Local government supports the Australian Government's policy of encouraging an open and competitive telecommunications market and notes that many of the Australian Government's programs to date have been developed to support regional and rural Australia and remote areas where market forces do not guarantee services.
- Inquiry into waste generation and resource efficiency
- 17 February 2006
- … There are a number of policy options available to governments. They include recycling initiatives, a co-regulatory framework similar to the national packaging covenant, pricing and taxation measures, extended producer responsibility frameworks, regulation of landfill and waste management sites and initiatives to reduce litter.
