Each edition we feature the views of a Local Government Association President. The following is from Councillor Bill Bott, President New South Wales Shires Association.
Australia is currently undergoing an extensive economic and technological revolution. Probably we are experiencing the most extensive economic change since the period of the 1850 gold rushes and many of our people view the need for change and the speed of the changes with dismay. These changes have been most visible in a rural and regional context.
The collapse and fluctuation of commodity prices and the inability of our producers to exercise at any stage price control, together with the associated and extensively held feeling of being powerless to influence the speed and process of change, have resulted in anxiety and concern within rural communities. The rise of One Nation can be attributed largely to a desire to move back to the security of the past rather than confront the difficult process of change.
One Nation is the product of bewilderment, rural hardship, ignorance of the necessity for change, and the frustration of feeling that both the cities and government have not noticed or indeed do not care. While it had been believed that One Nation had passed its zenith with the Federal election result, the recent New South Wales State election has confirmed that many citizens believe they are experiencing considerable adversity and have been let down by current representative government.
Local Government, in our role of representing the legitimate concerns and interests of our communities, must be able to effectively communicate with central governments. To be effective in this role we need to establish and maintain creditability with central governments. We need to be seen as part of the solution rather than being seen as part of the problem.
Too often both State and Federal Governments only hear us as carping critics of policies which often the respective governments have achieved mandates to introduce. In this context the current debate related to taxation reform is an example.
ALGA President John Campbell, our national spokesperson, has been balanced in putting the national Local Government position on taxation reform. Irrespective of which political party forms government they require a similar level of revenue to finance the nation’s needs and service the demands of good governance.
If income taxation as a percentage of total revenue contracts further, the pressure to raise finance through the alternative of asset sales, increased user pay charges, and the further rationalisation of service delivery will all continue. And continue to impact unfavourably on rural, particularly more isolated areas. We need therefore to reform the system by broadening the taxation base.
The irony will be that the critics of a broader taxation base will also be the most vocal critics of the alternative, seeing it as a further extension of economic rationalism. We are indeed privileged to live in one of the world’s most liberal and vigorous democracies. It is the vigour of this democratic process that also means in a political context, changes, no matter how much required, can be difficult if not impossible to achieve.
In both a national and regional Local Government context, the challenge of today and the future will be to manage and encourage the process of change through constructive participation. We must be mindful not to simply negate and frustrate by raising opposition to every proposal of government whether it be at State or Federal level.
