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EXCLUSUIVE! Inaugural Meeting of Australian Council of Local Govt

Last week over 400 mayors gathered at Parliament House in Canberra for the inaugural meeting of the Australian Council of Local Government. Mayor Jan Barham has congratulated the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Anthony Albanese on the initiative to establish the ACLG.

“The establishment of the ACLG is the beginning of a new relationship between the Federal Government and local government and will facilitate additional funding for councils and consultation on policy development” said Mayor Barham.

The meeting heard from the Prime Minister of his respect for local government and recognition of the hardship faced by councils’ in meeting the needs of local communities.  The announcement of $300m funding for councils for the infrastructure has delivered immediate funds to local government and the opportunity for future funding.  The establishment of a Centre of Excellence for Local Government was also announced with $8m funding.  The centre is proposed to provide training and support for councils.

The meeting included workshop sessions with presentations from Federal Government Ministers and Local Government representatives on key issues as well as the opportunity for feedback from the Mayors.

“The ACLG sessions provided the opportunity for mayors to present views on key issues. I attended sessions on Infrastructure and Telecommunications and Tourism and  raised the need for the public transport, especially the return of the North Coast rail and the importance of broadband upgrade for the region” said Mayor Barham.

Byron Shire General Manager, Graeme Faulkner and the Mayor also had constructive meetings with Ministers’ staff which had been organised by Richmond MP, Justine Elliot.  Byron Shire issues were discussed including the North Coast rail, federal funding for tourism, tourism accreditation, climate change, coastal management, creative industries and the need for telecommunication upgrades to facilitate regional growth.   Information was also provided to Justine Elliot for other Ministers regarding affordable housing and biodiversity protection.
 
Byron Shire Council has received $609,000 and will be making an application for additional funding under the $50m Strategic Projects program

“Council will consider how to spend the immediate funding and identify a project for the strategic projects funding.  The new funds provide a great opportunity to progress infrastructure such as bikeways that improves the quality of life for residents as well as delivering an economic boost for the area ” said Mayor Barham.

Mayor Jan Barham also congratulated outgoing President of Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) , Paul Bell and the Executive for the initiatives and their ongoing commitment to  constitutional recognition for local government and an enhanced relationship with the Federal Government .

Next month in Melbourne local council representatives will gather in Melbourne for the Constitutional Summit convened by ALGA to establish a unified position on the options for recognition in the Constitution. 


Jan Barham told BBG,
"This was a great event, the first time all the mayors in the country meeting together in Canberra. And much of the impetus for this has been the push for national recognition of local government in the constitution. Both the Labor and Opposition parties gave a commitment to consider this at the last Federal election."

"This particular event  ( the ACLG )has come from the Federal Government  as an annual event where mayors go to Canberra and partake in forums and hopefully given funding for local projects. In Australia local governments receive less than 1 percent of the total annual budget, less than  Turkey where it is 3 percent."

"The level of funding was one of the issues presented to the Federal Government. At the ACLG there was plenty of opportunity to discuss the relationship between the Federal Government and Local Government. One of the key issues is the level of funding and the direct funding of local government by the federal government. We all came home with money to spend on local infrastructure projects."

"The prime minister indicated that more funding will be an on-going process. There is some waste with money going through the states with administrative losses of 12 to 28 percent."

"There was also quite a lot of comment about local government dealing with state government, and NSW came in for special mention. But NSW is not the only state with these problems, whether it is new responsibilities imposed upon councils without any additional support, or laws which are made, and local government is not properly consulted. Quite often these laws can be unworkable.  In the light of this Mr Rudd gave a commitment to develop a policy relationship to discuss matters with local government before things are imposed."

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