In each edition we feature the views of a Local Government Association president. The following is from Alderman Kerry Moir, President of the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory.
Being the last state jurisdiction to undergo a financial sustainability study of its local government sector, the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory (LGANT) is awaiting the outcomes with some trepidation.
The study is likely to report that none of the Northern Territory’s 11 shire councils are financially viable.
But even more concerning is the public and government perceptions that these shires are somehow to blame for their predicaments.
Many councils around Australia have already faced negative findings from financial sustainability studies because they struggle to make ends meet.
The 2006 PriceWaterhouseCoopers report commissioned by the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) highlighted the fact that rural and remote councils were more likely to fit into this category. Of course, the Northern Territory’s 11 shires will too.
Somehow or other we are going to have to increase intergovernmental transfers to our councils, and I wish ALGA and all other local government associations all the best in that regard.
On another note, I would like to say thank you to all the local government people I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with in my 20 years as an alderman of Darwin City Council, five years as an Executive member of LGANT and finishing as its President for the past seven years.
I have also been an ALGA Board member during my time as President and have truly appreciated the experience. When I see all the people I know in local government, I feel very confident it is in good hands.
Thank you and all the best.
