In spite of a consensus from both State and Local Government speakers that Queensland Councils are in quite good shape, the theme for its 109th annual conference, ‘Climate for Change’, indicates that the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) recognises that nothing ever stands still.
LGAQ President, Councillor Paul Bell, agreed with the Local Government Minister, Desley Boyle, that Queensland Councils are the best resourced in Australia. Councillor Bell said much of this must be attributed to the work of LGAQ which he said is owned by Councils, run by Councils and exists wholly for Councils.
The Local Government Minister stated that Queensland Councils currently receive four times more than their counterparts in New South Wales do from their State Government, and twice as much as Victorian Councils.
“Local Governments in Queensland are autonomous, independent and diverse,” Minister Boyle told delegates. “You fully recognise that the job you do is important even in hard times.”
As an example, she said out that if all the roads Councils in Queensland are responsible for were to be placed in a line, you could drive around the world four times or half way to the moon. Keynote speaker and internationally acclaimed environmentalist, Professor David Bellamy, said that climate change is not the new, it has always been with us.
He said the key is adapting to change.
“As incomes rise, we spend less on food and more on other consumables such as holidays, electronics, and BMWs,” he said. “This means the farmers do worse and can only survive with government subsidies. In three years in the UK, 60,000 farmers moved off the land.”
He said at the same time our use of finite resources is insatiable.
“If all computers in the UK were turned off at the mains for one day, enough energy would be saved to power the City of Birmingham with its one million residents for a full year,” Professor Bellamy said. Not convinced about the value of carbon trading, he advocates a tax on the use of fossil fuels to be used to develop sustainable alternatives.
“For sustainability and beyond, we need good science combined with good business practice resulting in considered and joined up decision making,” he said.
Pointing to the work of Mareeba Shire Council of turning a dusty old stock route into a 2,000 hectare wetland in just ten years, he said that the key is local communities working to save their natural areas and natural resources.
Following the same theme, Premier Peter Beattie spoke on the issue of water pricing.
“We are an arid nation and must see water for what it is – liquid gold,” the Premier said.
“We need to all work together on this to treat water as the scarce resource that it is.This means charging people a price so that they value this resource, that by saving water they will save money.
“We do not manage water well. In London it is used up to 11 times, we are lucky to use it twice. Water pricing must reflect the cost of supply and managing the resource. Water distribution losses must be addressed and recycling of grey water an accepted practice – we have the technology to do this now.
“Every Council and Mayor needs to understand the importance of this issue. This is not just coming from my Government. It is part of a national initiative which is supported by both sides of politics.”
