Each edition we feature the views of a Local Government Association President. The following is from Councillor Tony Bisdee, President Local Government Association of Tasmania.
I attended the National Rural Roads Congress, held in Moree NSW on 6-7 March, where 270 delegates from all States and Territories came to discuss the importance of the nation’s local rural roads network.
Firstly, I wish to congratulate Mayor Mike Montgomery and the Councillors and staff of the Moree Plains Shire Council for their professionalism in conducting the congress and, also, for their Council’s initiative in holding such an important congress in conjunction with the Australian Local Government Association.
This was an extremely timely congress for it has become apparent that the issues of rural road infrastructure maintenance and replacement needed to be revisited to develop new solutions to what has now become a fundamental problem for all rural, and indeed most urban Councils throughout the nation.
It became evident, from the outset of the congress, that the maintenance and replacement problems facing local Councils and Shires are uniform across the nation. It was through complete frustration that delegates came to assess the options and prospects of finding solutions to address the gross inequity that is presently taking place with the road user taxes being collected by the Federal Government.
The enormity of the issue cannot be fully appreciated until you start to quantify the problem. There are 803,000 kilometres of public roads in Australia, 90% of which lie outside of the capital city urban areas. Revenue collected by Federal and State Government for the 1996-97 year, from fuel excise and vehicle registration, was $13.9 billion and estimated to be $16 billion for the current year.
Of these revenues for 1996/97, only $6.2 billion was directed by both the Federal and State Governments to road expenditure. Speakers at the Congress generally agreed there was a backlog of some $14-20 billion in funding of urgent maintenance and upgrading of the road network. The statistics speak for themselves and have revealed the seriousness of the situation regarding the maintenance and replacement of the nation’s road and bridge infrastructure – which is falling drastically behind.
In the meantime, Federal politicians and Treasuries reap the huge revenues that are paid by the road users of the nation. This problem is preventing further economic growth for the country, as it is becoming more difficult to transport the great wealth produced by the rural and regional areas to the airports and seaports for distribution to the world.
The congress ultimately resolved to establish a steering committee with representatives of Elected Members, Engineers and State Road authorities to progress outcomes of the congress. The Chair is Ted Butcher, former Chair of National Rail and the Civil Aviation Authority, and who also chaired the recent Institution of Engineers Australia Taskforce on Sustainable Transport.
The Steering Committee’s initial role will be to:
- prepare an options paper for discussion at State/ Territory Level;
- endorse a data collection program to be undertaken by ALGA; and
- endorse or initiate a number of case studies.
The committee will provide a report to the next National General Assembly in the first week of December this year for their consideration, where comments will be sought. A decision regarding holding a further congress in Mildura in March 2001 will also be made.
We can only hope that a solution can be developed, that will include the support of our Federal politicians from all political persuasions, in recognising the importance of a safe, dependable strategic national road and bridge network, that will continue to underpin the transport task within rural and regional Australia.
An important element of the solution has to be greater equity in the distribution of road user taxes and revenues to Local Government nationally. The continued export performance, wealth generation and sustainability of our rural and regional communities depend upon it.
