In the session that looked at future directions for Local Government, Dr Rosemary Kiss from the Centre of Public Policy at Melbourne University said that too little time and money is currently being spent on research and development. A former Councillor and member of the Victorian Grants Commission, Dr Kiss said Local Government must have this R & D capacity to articulate a vision and demonstrate why it should be funded directly out of national taxes.
“You need to fight in the political arena, to get in there to make your point and make it clear,” she said. “Local Government must get beyond the current begging bowl of ‘please give us some more money’. A proportion of tax needs to be allocated directly to Local Government to do what it believes should be done.”
She said Local Government must draw on its grassroots capacity but it must bring its communities along with it.
“People still see you as a service provider to property,” she said. “Moreover, they expect you to operate outside of party politics. They abhor rate rises and believe elected representatives should be voluntary.
“They don’t expect you to be their leaders and don’t want to devolve more power to Local Government. All this must be turned around.”
Author, Matthew Reilly, told delegates that Australia is at risk of becoming mediocre. At the age of 25, Matthew Reilly has already sold over two million copies of his three best selling novels.
He pointed to Australia’s collective aversion to people who dare to stand out – with the obvious exception being in the sporting arena.
“There is contempt for those who put themselves forward for public life,” he said. “I believe this attitude can be changed and must be changed. It is gutsy to put yourself out there, saying ‘I can make a difference’.”
He posed the question: What does the community want from Local Government?
“People largely want to be left alone,” he said. “When they do have an issue they want it handled quickly and efficiently. They want their councils to be fast and nimble, not slow and lumbering.”
Mayor of Caboolture Shire in Queensland, Councillor Joy Leishman, is popularly elected and represents a community of 130,000, half of which having moved there in the last ten years. She said Local Government is embarking on a new era from roads, rates and rubbish to building community spirit.
“People are yearning for community spirit,” Councillor Leishman said. “They come together for events but then this dissipates. There is no one size fits all. Every area is different so we need to use various approaches to build community.”
She said one of the best ways to do this is to get together with the local community and build things.
“In delivering infrastructure, we are the sphere that does this the best,” Councillor Leishman said. “Residents have a real desire for safe and happy communities – they don’t want gated communities. They want their kids to be able to play in the local area and be safe. It is the little things we do that has the greatest impact in our community – the things that make people feel engaged.”
She used the example of a recent issue facing her Council with its 4,000 strong Samoan community. The Samoan community wanted to be part of the wider community, so Council worked with them to arrange a welcoming ceremony. From this friendships formed and a project was undertaken to build a Samoan Meeting Hut now used by the whole community.
“Some people argued that this was not core business, so why was Council doing this,” Councillor Leishman said. “They asserted that all new comers should just fit in.
“The easy decision is to do nothing. Bit if you want to change your community, you must do something.”
