Welcome to this edition of National Perspective. This publication is a useful forum for providing updates on Federal Government programmes, especially initiatives for Local Government.
The Federal Government recently announced the $90 million Regional Solutions Programme. The key advantage of the programme will be its flexibility to meet the needs of communities.
A range of projects will be considered for funding later this year, particularly for regional areas that are struggling to meet the challenges of change and communities where the economic benefits of change are yet to be felt.
Guidelines on the Programme will be available later in the year.
The Federal Government sees Regional Solutions as building on the strong foundation of Federal programmes for local communities including Rural Plan and Rural Communities Programme as well as the Rural Transaction Centres Programme and the direct assistance to Local Government in Financial Assistance Grants which is $1.3 billion this year.
This edition of National Perspective also contains an update of the Commonwealth Grants Commission review that is underway into the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995.
The Commission is undertaking wide ranging consultation as part of the review and I encourage councils to make their views known to the Commission.
The Rural Transaction Centres (RTC) Programme highlights the Federal Government’s commitment to working in partnership with communities to ensure they have access to basic services. In all, 253 communities are so far involved in the programme which is all about providing a centre geared towards the requirements of each town.
I can’t overstate the impact RTCs have already had in communities where they have opened. Welshpool in Victoria, for example, has been the subject of a number of media stories which have shown the positive impact of the RTC to the town.
This National Perspective features another of those towns, Crows Nest in Queensland, where on May 20 I had the pleasure of opening the RTC in the company of the community and supporters.
The centre will provide Centrelink services, co-location of the QGAP Information Service, a tourist promotion and information service, computer and Internet access and a Heritage Building Society branch.
The Federal Government contributed $38,000 from the $70 million, five year RTC Programme to fund this centre. Funds from the Crows Nest Shire Council to buy the premises and money raised from the community really demonstrate the way that involvement of all levels of government and the local community can provide improved services.
Another way of the future for Local Government can be seen through the resource sharing for councils demonstrated by Riverina Eastern Regional Organisation of Councils (REROC).
Federal Government assistance has helped launch the new technologies of Geographic Mapping Systems in conjunction with Global Positioning Systems.
The benefit of councils pooling their resources in this instance has provided a state of the art centralised mapping service which will greatly increase the efficiency of local planning and development.
Part of my responsibilities in Canberra as Territories Minister involves participation in a review of the Parliamentary Zone. So it was a pleasant duty for Senator Margaret Reid, the Senate President and Senator for the ACT, and myself to unveil the winners of the first stage of this review, a design for a “Place of the People” in the Parliamentary Zone.
You can see the innovative winning design in this edition. This is part of my plan to see Canberra become a capital for all Australians.
I have also been fortunate to recently meet with representatives from northern Australia as part of the consultation process for the Northern Australia Forum, which I will be hosting in Katherine on 17-20 October.
Local Government representation has been high at the consultations, which will set the agenda for the Forum and aims to identify the future directions for northern Australia.
Finally, it is the time of the year that we are gearing up for the judging of the National Awards for Innovation in Local Government, which I launched at the IMM Conference in May.
With entries now closed, the difficult task of sorting through the massive number of entries has begun. The winners of the Awards will be announced at a presentation ceremony on 5 December at the ALGA National General Assembly.
