In just a few weeks, the eyes of the world will turn to Newcastle, Australia. Five years on from the Rio Earth Summit, Newcastle has secured the right to host ‘Pathways To Sustainability’, a Conference which will deliver the final phase in the international review of Local Agenda 21 (see page 1).
With delegates from over 40 countries, not only will the declaration, to be presented to a Special General Assembly of the United Nations on 9-13 June, be finalised but the Conference provides a great opportunity for Local Government personnel from across Australia to network and debate issues with officials representing towns and cities around the globe.
Some of the best case studies, providing new skills and processes to improve the social and physical environments of our towns and cities, will also be showcased.
It is a great compliment both to Australia, and particularly Newcastle, to have been selected to host this important international forum. In this, its bicentennial year, Newcastle City Council and its residents must be congratulated for securing the right to stage this event.
They are also to be congratulated on the fact that their City is a living example of successful local initiatives which have transformed, in just over a decade, a ‘not so attractive’ industrial City into an environmental showpiece. This Conference will undoubtedly provide the world wide acclaim that Newcastle justly deserves.
Similarly, the international delegates will continue to spread the word that Australia is a great place to visit, with its environmental credentials of very high standard. While our isolation was once seen as a disadvantage, it has been a major contributor to our growing reputation as a ‘clean and green’ nation.
In the global village, this translates into a huge market advantage that must be protected at all costs. To secure this, governments at all levels must work together. However, the line of argument that less red tape through deregulation will lead to increased competitiveness has opened the floodgates for short term commercial gain overshadowing long term reality.
Recent food contamination cases, resulting in severe sickness and even cases of death, are devastating for those affected but longer term financial repercussions on particular industry sectors can be felt for years.
In Victoria, the move by the State Government in 1994 to introduce self regulation eroded the power of Local Government to compel food handlers to attend compulsory training sessions. There have now been numerous calls for this power to be reinstated to Councils.
The concept of self regulation in food production, manufacturing and handling, including our meat export industry, is now under question. When the dollar is the bottom line, short cuts for commercial gain could well jeopardise Australia’s international reputation as clean and green.
The financial consequences of this would hurt all communities, particularly those rural areas working to develop new export markets based on the clean and green image of their produce. The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) is currently undertaking a major project to develop a coherent framework for Local Government to contribute to a better system for planning and delivering both local health and local community services.
While the Federal and State Governments enter into partnership agreements covering these areas, the ALGA asserts that Local Government is still being taken for granted, as merely a conduit for the other spheres health and community service delivery.
Knowledge of the local community and local environment is the domain of Councils, yet the other spheres continue to ignore this key aspect of Local Government. As the international community ratifies the vital role of Local Authorities in planning and delivering on initiatives through Local Agenda 21, how long will it take the Federal and State Governments to include Local Government as a full partner in governance not merely an agency?
