Each edition we feature the views of a State Local Government Association President. The following is from Councillor Margaret Vigants, President, Local Government Association of the Northern Territory.
Visitors that I welcome to the Northern Territory often tell me that they find something different about the place. They comment on such things as the relaxed lifestyle, the casual dress, the greenery of the top end, the beauty of Central Australia, the characters they meet, the remoteness, the cosmopolitan population and the high proportion of Aboriginal people they meet during their travels in the Territory.
They tell me we are unique and naturally our tourist promotions often sell our part of the world on this basis. Local Government in all areas of Australia reflect the local community and its particular characteristics, and so it is in the Territory. Local Government in NT is also unique.
Since being elected President of LGANT in September last year, I have seen how different we are.
- We are young, our development of Local Government only dates back 40 years.
- We have several different types of Councils ranging from Special Purpose Towns to Community Government to more traditional Municipal Councils.
- We have some Councils with only a couple of hundred people in their area.
- Our community government model gives total flexibility to Councils to decide what they do and generally how they do it.
- We are still seeking to become a State (soon I hope) with Local Government properly recognised in our proposed constitution.
- Our Councils tend not to have large areas but focus on a particular community.
- We have 700 Aboriginal people as elected members in the Territory compared with small numbers in all other States.
I notice these differences more now through my involvement as an Executive member of the Australian Local Government Association. Meetings of the ALGA provide the opportunity for me to see how the other States operate, to see the good features of how we and other States work to achieve the common objectives we all share as Local Government.
Despite the differences that I have mentioned, we in the Territory, share many things in common with other Councils. We are all working to advance our communities in our own ways. We all have much that we can do. We all have to make choices and prioritise what we can achieve with the funds available. We all represent our constituents locally and seek to provide the best possible services for them.
The very nature of Local Government values our differences and does not say, there is only one way or one system that is correct. As I move around the Territory and Australia as LGANT President, it is clear that our differences are in fact the real strength of Local Government.
I see Councils working locally in many differing ways that are appropriate for their communities, but underneath this there are common objectives we all share and are working for. It is only Local Government that can act so effectively at the local level in this way. Let us value and work towards our common objectives and not be distracted by discussions on our differences, and who is right or wrong.
I congratulate Local Government FOCUS for the good work it is doing in disseminating information on the success stories of Councils around Australia. It is important for us to hear and read of the positive achievements being made, and there are plenty of them.
Best wishes to all Local Government FOCUS readers for the remainder of 1998 and I invite you to visit the Northern Territory to see first hand what we in Local Government are doing for our communities.
