The Prime Minister, John Howard, believes that Local Government will have a growing role in the nation’s future. In his address to the Assembly, the Prime Minister said the ‘growing links’ between the Federal and Local Government were important and need to be encouraged, but the limitations on them needed to be recognised.
“We’re not going to have some kind of dramatic constitutional change overnight,” John Howard said. “The relationship on a legal and charter basis between Local Government and State Government is going to remain. But there are growing opportunities for direct cooperation between the Federal Government and Local Government. We have utilised these in the past and I will outline some areas where I believe they can be utilised in the future.
“Australians increasingly demand national outcomes or outcomes that are important to the nation as a whole. They are increasingly conscious of the identity of the Australian nation, they are increasingly conscious of the need to dissolve barriers to the full realisation of our national identity.
“All of those things collectively suggest to me a growing sense of demanding of governments, whether it’s the Federal Government, the State Government, or Local Government. If you move from one part of the country to another – and increasingly Australians do that – then you shouldn’t be subject to any kind of penalty or any kind of disability.”
John Howard said a simple example is a common starting age for school children.
“I also believe, and this will be welcome to all of you, that there is a growing sense of local identity,” he said. “I think side by side with this sense of national feeling, national identification and demanding national solutions, people are increasingly looking to the importance and the vitality of their local communities,” he said.
“Now I think those two sentiments of nationalism and localism are the dominant sentiments of the Australian people in the early part of the 21st century. That naturally suggests that the role of Local Government, far from being a diminishing role, is a role of growing relevance and growing interest and growing importance to the Australian people.”
During the General Assembly session on the political future of Local Government, Grahame Morris, former chief of staff for Prime Minister Howard, said the current Federal Government would be unlikely to accept a proposal for a referendum. He said constitutional recognition was not a straightforward matter, as it would entail budgetary implications for the Federal Government. He said in more general terms, a campaign for constitutional recognition needs a focus as to why people would support it.
“If any negative campaign is mounted, it would be lost,” he said.
Federal Shadow Minister for Regional Services, Local Government and Territories, Senator Kerry O’Brien, said the Australian Labor Party remained committed to constitutional recognition for Local Government.
“Labor’s national platform supports constitutional change to deliver recognition for Local Government, but history tells us that any referendum is doomed to failure without bipartisan support,” he said. “It is in my view appropriate for Local Government to insist on proper recognition of its role in the Australian polity.
“Recognition that extends beyond the parliamentary resolution recommended by the Fair Share inquiry.”
