While Australians are becoming more cynical about global politics, their interest in local governance is increasing, Shadow Treasurer, Mark Latham believes.
“I detect a revival of localism around the nation,” he said. “People are interested in the tangible things they can influence. In a globalised world, localism is becoming more important. It is the paradox of globalisation, which is asking us to place our trust in strangers. It is very hard to build trust globally, unless we have strong local governance and trust at the local level.”
Mark Latham was the Shadow Minister for Local Government in 1996 and 1997. He was also Mayor of the City of Liverpool, in south west Sydney, from 1991–1994, after being elected to Council in 1987.
“Sometimes I look back and think I was getting more done in Local Government than I am now in Opposition,” he said. There is always a chance for good, dedicated Councillors to achieve things. The best life is a life served for others, doing things for the community.”
He said Councils need to help their communities develop self-governance skills.
“Generally, there is a rebellion against top-down institutions that tell people what to do. People are more interested in self-governance, where there is empowerment and control at a local community level. “In many ways, this is a consequence of an information rich society. People want to use their education and information skills to good effect. We need to give people things to do at a local level that will develop social capital. I don’t necessarily want people campaigning for better services,” he said. “I want to see our communities running those services.”
Mark Latham said Councils needed to be more innovative in micro-financing by improving access to investment opportunities for local and disadvantaged communities; and in urban planning, by encouraging cross regional planning to help people move between suburbs and across major cities, instead of the traditional ‘hub and spoke’ model of suburbs spreading out from a CBD.
The Shadow Treasurer said more people were leading self contained lifestyles in their Local Government area, instead of commuting from the suburbs into a CBD for work or leisure.
“If people could get all their employment, recreation and service opportunities within a ten kilometre radius of their homes they would be very happy indeed,” he said. “The best way to improve the environment of our cities is to reduce commuter travel time by providing more services and opportunities closer to home.”
Mark Latham said a Federal Labor Government would take more responsibility for local communities.
“Local Government in Australia has always been under-rated and under-resourced and this is why we don’t have enough innovation,” he said. “All the big changes happening in our cities are a direct result of Federal Government policies. It’s just not sufficient for the Federal Government to be driving urban change but then leaving the responsibility of managing that change to Local Government.”
Mark Latham said there are two types of Federal MPs – those who see Local Governments as a nuisance or an irrelevance, and those who see them as an opportunity for better governance.
“I proudly see myself in the second category,” he said. “I come from a Local Government background and I’m an optimist about making the most of Federal Government partnerships with local communities.”
Editor: When going to press, the Labor leadership vote between Mark Latham and Kim Beazley had not occurred.
