Local Government in the Territory is moving to a new era. The result will be a system of local governance that provides for better representation and control for people locally of the services that they depend on.
Dr Richard Lim, the Minister for Local Government since late 2000, is pleased that he has been given the portfolio at this defining time in the development of Local Government in the Territory.
“Local Government here has developed along two different tracks in the past,” Dr Lim said. “There will still be differences but the establishment of larger, more regionally focused Councils with a wider range of functions will provide people living in rural and remote areas with access to better services and representation.”
Dr Lim believes that the system of community government has served Territorians well.
“It is important to retain the benefits of the community government approach within the constitutional arrangements being developed for the larger regional Local Governments,” he said. “The approach being taken to Local Government in the Territory reflects the Government’s view of the importance of Local Government as the principal service delivery and representative mechanism at a local level.
‘It is particularly pleasing that Councils covering the major population centres are enthusiastic about the potential value of broad ranging partnership agreements.
“These agreements will provide an excellent opportunity to establish a more productive and professional relationship between the spheres of government in the Territory.”
