In his address to the National General Assembly, Prime Minister John Howard said that his government “places tremendous store on the role of Local Government”.
“In assessing the drift or mood of the Australian people, there is a strong sense of nationalism and national identity together with a strong localism and local identity,” the Prime Minister said. “For this reason the interface between the Commonwealth Government and Local Government is very important. Local Government provides a local community perspective to the development of national policy.”
The Prime Minister referred to the responsibilities of the Commonwealth and State Governments to assist Local Government financially.
“We were elected on a commitment to inquire into Cost Shifting,” he said. “I congratulate the Committee on the excellent report it has produced.”
With the Roads to Recovery program increasing the amount of funding from the Commonwealth Government to Local Government for local roads by 75 per cent, the Prime Minister said that the Government is very aware of the importance of this program to Councils, particularly those in country areas.
Referring to national security issues, John Howard said that this is now at the forefront of most people’s minds.
“I wish this were otherwise, but we must marshal the endorsement of the entire Australian community,” he said. “We will include representatives from ALGA to work with us on how Local Government can contribute to national security, especially in regard to emergency management services.”
The Prime Minister said that our Federation came about as a collective of colonies.
“Since that time a sense of nationalism has grown,” he said. “Today, how the national government and Local Government relate is very important indeed.”
