In officially opening the recent Annual Conference of the NSW Local Government Association, the Premier Bob Carr said that it is impossible for this country to work without an effective partnership between Federal, State and Local Government.
He said the partnership between the State Government and Local Government must be based on cooperation. Using amalgamations as an example, Bob Carr said that any decision on this must be made at the local level, initiated locally and agreed to by the Councils and communities concerned. Similarly, the Premier said his Government is working closely with the Local Government and Shires Association on the Competition Policy.
“In developing competition neutrality in NSW, Compulsory Competitive Tendering will not be imposed,” Bob Carr said. “The Competition Policy will encourage the use of competitive tendering, where it is appropriate, as decided by each Council.”
Referring to the adverse impact of Federal Budget cuts to regional Australia, Bob Carr said that in NSW any State decision affecting a rural area will first have a rural impact study carried out. The Government has also set up a Rural Communities Consultative Committee to improve its lines of communication with country people.
He said the Government’s action to restore key regional passenger rail services and the construction of seven new hospitals for country NSW is helping, but the key challenge is to attract more jobs to rural NSW. Turning to Sydney 2000, the Premier said the Games will be a great catalyst for tourism and economic growth.
“Sydney, New South Wales and all of Australia will be on show to the rest of the world,” he said. “The spotlight will be on Sydney but we want to spread the benefits as widely as possible with training facilities at various locations and tourism packages including at least one extension trip to somewhere in regional NSW.”
In his Presidential Address, Cr Peter Woods said that the single major constraint on Local Government’s ability to achieve for Australia was inadequate constitutional authority.
“When other Governments fail, we cannot take up the baton on behalf of our communities,” he said. “We are powerless against the dead weight of State legislation and tightening Federal purse strings.
“Give Councils the constitutional power to be an equal partner in government, and give them the resources and the ability to raise their own resources in order to use their powers.” He warned about the new Federal Government abandoning important principles in pursuit of its slash and burn agenda.
“Beware of any attempts to use budgetary constraints as a reason for curtailing general purpose funding to Local Government,” Peter Woods said. “Financial Assistance Grants are a share of the peoples’ tax dollar to be used locally. They are not some benevolent hand out.” During the Conference, Peter Woods was elected for a record fourth term as President of the NSW LGA.
Minister for Local Government, Ernie Page said that in light of Federal Budget cuts the need for an effective partnership between the State and Local Government has never been greater.
“The Commonwealth has retreated from local and regional economic development matters,” he said. “With funding cuts having a severe impact on our regions, the Government will undertake a study to look at the potential for expanding the role of Regional Organisation of Councils.”
Referring to the Government decision not to go down the path of Compulsory Competitive Tendering as Victoria has, the Minister pointed to the adverse impact it can have on local communities, particularly employment in country areas and loss of job opportunities for women and people from non English speaking backgrounds.
