Staged in Perth from 31 July to
2 August, the Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) Convention attracted some 600 delegates. With the theme ‘Making our World Work’, WALGA President, Bill Mitchell, said the conference looked at a number of issues under the umbrella of sustainability. These included infrastructure and asset management, service delivery funding, performance management, change management and Constitutional recognition.
International global analyst, Gregory Copley, addressed the topic, ‘The Big Picture and Our Place In It’. He told delegates that stark challenges, such as population size and movement, are emerging and we need a strong sense of identity and leadership to overcome them.
“The world’s population has grown from
2.5 billion people in the 1950s to over six billion today, and is expected to peak at 10 billion by 2050,” he said. “This will have a great impact on the on the availability of resources, including energy and food.
“Natural gas, coal and uranium will peak before the end of this century and as it declines, our dependence on imported oil will move from 20 to 80 per cent.”
He said we need to expand exploration of alternative fuels to offset this.
“The use of wave, wind, clean coal and solar power is increasing, but Australia’s large scale solution could lie in the untapped potential of Western Australia’s thorium reserves,” he said. “Western Australia has the world’s largest reserve of thorium, which is a slightly radioactive metal that can be used as a fuel to generate power.
“It has very powerful potential, with the ability to produce more megawatts of power than any other current option. Within a decade, it has the possibility to give communities cheap energy.”
Gregory Copley said Western Australian Local Governments could produce and sell thorium fuel and their expertise in its application around the world.
“The opportunities for vertical integration could transform every community,” he said.
Mark Edgell from the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) for Local Government in the United Kingdom discussed performance improvement. He said inspiration is key to performance improvement and outlined a number of effective tools used by IDeA to assist councils in sharing their experiences.
These included a national Beacon Scheme, regional Local Government networks and Leadership Academy programs, which help Councillors to become better leaders so they can balance the diverse demands of people living in the same community.
Mark Edgell said the Beacon Scheme was set up to award and share best practice in service delivery across Local Government.
“Themes are selected for each round of the scheme by Government Ministers,” he said. “The themes represent issues that are important in the day to day lives of the public and reflect key government priorities. The council seen to be performing the best on a certain issue hosts an open day for other councils to come and see the solution in action, ask questions and interact.
“Not only does this provide an opportunity for the other council to gain ideas and solutions, but it offers a mirror back to the host council, who can also learn from discussions and suggestions.”
Chief Executive of Rodney District Council in New Zealand, Roger Kerr-Newell, said the key to Local Government financial sustainability is councils controlling their own financial destiny.
He said that New Zealand authorities are largely self financing and receiving subsidies from the Land Transport Fund, for example, for the construction, maintenance and renewal of roads. This money comes from fuel tax, road use charges and so forth.
“New Zealand Local Government is in a strong financial position, with AU$52.5 billion in assets versus AU$12.9 billion in liabilities,” Roger Kerr-Newell said. “There are few if any significant asset failures and we have increased support from other levels of government.
“Almost everything that can be contracted out has been and we have increased resident satisfaction.”
He said that because the councils control the money, they are able to be independent.
“The trick is to step away from government agency deals and develop community investments, which can allow councils to substantially reduce the cost of doing business, and take control of your community’s future,” Roger Kerr-Newell said. “Remember that Local Government is a business and should be run like one.
“Claim your local autonomy, as projects and initiatives will never be completely on your agenda if they are not in your chequebook.”
