Each edition we feature the views of a Local Government Association President. The following is from Councillor Brad Matheson President Municipal Association of Victoria
Much has been said and written about Australia as we prepare to enter a new century and a new millennium. And like so many other bodies, the MAV has also been looking to the future.
In the development of its new business plan, the MAV has looked closely at both local and global trends in Local Government. In the US, municipalities are being restructured on a decentralised basis, focusing on improved service delivery, increased use of information technology for communication and community access, and increased emphasis on productivity and outcomes.
In the UK, which has provided much of the inspiration for reform in Victoria, the trend is away from ratecapping and compulsory competitive tendering in favour of the best value process of accountability, transparency and best practice. Elsewhere, the division between the public and private sectors is diminishing. Once again, increased competitiveness, accountability and performance are the key demands being made of Councils.
In this type of environment, where Local Government continues to be hammered about its so called resistance to change and measurement, a perceived lack of competitiveness and alleged inward focus, the challenge for peak body associations is to turn around State, Commonwealth and community opinions and place Local Government on higher negotiating ground.
In pursuing this path, the MAV is striving for excellence in both its own activities and those of the sector. This requires a peak body that is strategically focused, a ‘centre for knowledge’, non party political and above all, accountable.
The MAV’s business plan, which will be formally presented at the Association’s Annual Conference on 7-8 October, sets out the key result areas and performance indicators which will determine the MAV’s success in delivering on the document’s promises.
As the longest serving Local Government peak body in Australia, the MAV has a history of being at the vanguard of public sector change. We have witnessed the move from colonisation to federation, the growth and then contraction in Council numbers, not to mention reform which has fundamentally reshaped the role and delivery of Local Government services.
Like other State Associations, the MAV has been arguing for nigh on a century for improved Commonwealth/State/Local Government relations, better road funding and an increased share of the tax take.
We do not pretend this business plan will resolve all those arguments, but with the force of Victorian Councils behind it, it will deliver greater Local Government autonomy, increased influence, and improve the perception of Local Government across other spheres of government and the community.
It is a big challenge. Happy new millennium.
