In May this year Local Government SA demonstrated the power of working together to ensure winning outcomes for communities.
South Australia has more than 160,000 pensioners and seniors cardholders; some of the most financially vulnerable people in our communities.
A decision of the Australian Government and a flow on decision by the State Government, almost made the lives of this sector a whole lot worse, until Local Government took up the battle.
Concession payments became an issue for South Australia with the May 2015 Federal announcement that it had axed the National Partnership Agreement on Certain Concession Card and Senior Card Holders (NPA).
While Local Government in all States and Territories were hit with the same Federal brush, only the SA Government announced that pensioner concessions would cease on 1 July 2015.
Various ‘Talking Heads’ in the State Government attempted to guilt SA Councils into covering the concessions but the Local Government Association (LGA), in consultation with the State’s 68 Councils, went into bat for the State’s pensioners.
The LGA made the first manoeuvres of what would be a several month long public campaign.
The information provided by LGAs in the other States and Territories and the Australian Local Government Association was invaluable as was the support offered by the SA State Opposition, Greens, Family First and Independents in the SA Legislative Council.
Our campaign was backed by the Council of the Aging and the South Australian Council of Social Service.
Our campaign thrust was simple. We didn’t care which sphere of government, State or Commonwealth, funded pensioner concessions but one or other would have to.
To force this payment onto Councils would have penalised all ratepayers in areas with high populations of pensioners and concession cardholders.
Early this year, most SA Councils let ratepayers know of the impending impact by inserting flyers into rates notices, or via websites and media.
A petition was circulated through Council libraries and administration centres.
The State Liberal Opposition began their own petition and announced they would block any proposed changes to pensioner concession legislation.
On 14 May, just after the Federal Budget was released, the SA Treasurer announced that while the rates concession would no longer exist they would implement a new Cost of Living payment of $200 for full pensioners, $100 dollars for part pensioners and self-funded retirees (SFR) and for the first time the payments would include people on pensions, part-pensions and SFR who did not own their homes.
I congratulate the State Government and particularly the Treasurer for working with Local Government to produce an outcome that ultimately recognised and protected our pensioners.
This would not have happened without the LGA’s campaign and the collective pressure of all SA Councils working together for their communities.
The LGASA continues our campaign to encourage the Federal Government to reinstitute the $19 million (per annum) supplementary road funding to SA to correct an anomaly in the road funding formula, which was recognised by the Howard Liberal Government in 2004.
SA receives only 5.5 percent of core local road funding while we have 11 percent of local roads.
Since 2004 political parties, of all persuasions have accepted this is unfair and the Commonwealth Grants Commission has confirmed this view.
SA Councils are responsible for around $21 billion in infrastructure and physical assets and the supplementary funding was particularly important to Councils maintaining 75,000 kilometers of local roads.
We are not asking the Federal Government for something that is not rightfully ours or for reduced payments to other Local Government jurisdictions.
We are simply asking for equality and this was supported by resolution of the ALGA – that “the Board note ALGA’s submission to the 2015–16 Federal Budget and request that the substance of the 2016–17 Federal Budget Submission, which will also address the issue of the South Australian Supplementary Road Funding be presented to the September Board Meeting for consideration”.
