The Local Government Association of the Northern Territory (LGANT) has welcomed the appointment of the Hon Steven Edgington as the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Community Development, inviting him to address its upcoming November conference and to meet all members.
LGANT president Hon Kon Vatskalis, congratulated Mr Edgington and said the organisation was excited to work with a new minister and government that saw the value of local decision making through local government councils across the Territory.
“CLP has indicated they have a focus on delivering best-practice local government and a desire for grassroots collaboration and consultation, and we are looking forward to playing a positive role in the future of local decision making, particularly in regional areas, where 89% of elected members are Aboriginal,” Mr Vatskalis said.
With over 30 years of history as the peak body representing the local government sector in the Territory, LGANT has a long and proud history of working closely with both sides of politics to advance the interests of the local government sector.
LGANT is asking the new government to support the following key priorities for local government:
• Stop unfair preferencing for grants and contracts: Commit to not preferencing Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) over Aboriginal-led regional local government councils in policy and program development. This means local councils can employ local workers to do local jobs.
• Consultation, costing and funding: Ensure robust consultation and proper costing and funding of any community-led de-amalgamations to ensure continuity of services and service standards, the ongoing financial sustainability of impacted councils, and no adverse impact on other councils.
• Code of Conduct reform: Implement reform of the Local Government Code of Conduct framework including increased funding for elected member governance training and for the NT Government’s Local Government Unit to enable proactive compliance support and timely responses to misconduct complaints.
