Each edition we feature the views of a Local Government Association President. The following is from Mayor Lynn Mason, President of the Local Government Association of Tasmania (LGAT).
The LGAT Committee given the task of examining Local Government’s place in the Tasmanian State Constitution has put out its first paper for comment to Councils, and is moving towards the Annual General Meeting at the end of May with a raft of motions which attempt to reflect the constitutional issues which Councils feel most strongly about at this time.
The Discussion Paper was released at the end of December and just on two thirds of Councils responded.
Currently in Tasmania there is no recognition of Local Government as a democratically elected sphere of government with at least some degree of independence from the State. There is no guarantee that Local Government can raise its own revenue.
There is nothing to protect Local Government from arbitrary and sweeping changes to Municipal boundaries. There is not much, in short, which ensures that Tasmanians can continue to enjoy (or otherwise) the democratic right to elect the local Council of their choice.
From here, motions will be put at Tasmania’s Annual General Meeting to find out whether or not Councils want to go to the table with the State Government in the second half of the year to try to change all of the above.
The State has agreed that consideration of Local Government’s constitutional status will be part of the agenda for the Premier’s Local Government Council this year, the most positive approach taken by the two levels of government for many a decade.
This is a Federal election year. The ALGA Executive has already determined the areas it will push for changes to policy at the Federal level, and these do not include the question of Constitutional recognition of Local Government.
However, there is one question Local Government could ask of all candidates and parties, and that is:
During the term of office of the next Federal Government, are you willing to support the conduct of a single issue referendum which deals only with whether Local Government should be recognised in the Australian Constitution?
Given how long this will all take, it would be a very small first step to get even that agreement: but without it the issue of recognition will remain just what it is at the moment: the topic of passion at the beginning of most national Local Government conferences, doomed to failure at every other level.
Surely we deserve better than that?
