In each edition we feature the views of a Local Government Association President. The following is from Councillor Ian Mickel, Inaugural President of the WA Local Government Association.
Representation in Western Australian Local Government has come of age, with the launch earlier in the month of the WA Local Government Association. After many years of debate, negotiation and hard work, the Country Shire Councils’ Association, the Country Urban Councils’ Association and the Local Government Association (metropolitan Councils) have now united as one organisation representing all Local Governments in WA.
Councils in WA, including Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands, are direct members of the new Association through a zone structure. This new structure will allow Councils to have a greater and more direct say in the policy formulation and lobbying strategies of the Association.
Importantly, the Association will now have a State Council of Local Government, which will have representation from every region in Western Australia. The reality of having 24 Councillors around the one table representing issues from all corners of this great State is an incredible achievement in itself.
It will dramatically improve the effectiveness of the new Association and will mean that Local Government is better informed in all of its decision making. At the State Council table, all Local Governments are on equal standing. Whether an issue is from Yalgoo or Wanneroo, from Collie or Peppermint Grove, it will be given fair and equal consideration.
One of the other major benefits of the new association will be a more streamlined consultation process, providing Local Governments with one voice and a united organisation to represent their views on issues of importance. Other new structures within the new association will also allow for greater involvement of individual Councils and zones, particularly in regard to policy and advocacy. This is extremely important in ensuring that all communities are heard and local issues are recognised and dealt with.
The State Minister for Local Government and Regional Development, Tom Stephens MLC, launched the new Association on 6 December 2001. He said one organisation, as the peak body for Councils, was an important step in the consultation and communication process.
We are now officially the single voice of Local Government in WA. As a sphere of government, we are united, through this new Association, in our quest to deliver better quality services to our communities. With the right tools, adequate resources and the desire to excel, we can create develop and maintain the quality of life that Western Australia has become so renowned for.
This is an exciting time for WA’s Local Government sector, and there is much we can achieve as a united sector.
