2005 has been another challenging year for Local Government. The following highlights our opinion on how Local Government has continued to raise the bar.
January – tsunami relief
Australia’s three spheres of government have acted quickly to provide aid to tsunami ravaged areas in South Asia and Africa. Local Governments and their staff in Australia are, and will continue to be, involved. Through this recovery program they will be building even stronger bridges than those constructed of steel and cement, bridges that draw people together permanently through both the good and bad times.
February – tax reform
Armed with the findings of the Hawker report and its bipartisan support, ALGA once again is calling on the Australian Government to put Local Government on a more stable financial footing, namely providing all Councils with access to growth funds. If implemented this year, ALGA says just a one per cent share of the national taxation revenue will provide an increase of $400 million in the coming financial year, rising to larger amounts as the economy grows.
March – greenhouse emissions
Local Governments are leading the charge to reduce greenhouse emissions despite the Federal Government refusing to ratify the Kyoto Agreement. From July 1999 to June 2004, under the programs such as Cities for Climate Protection (CCP), 131 Local Governments have achieved 2,981,541 tonnes of carbon dioxide abatement. The Australian branch of International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) has been working with Councils large and small to achieve this reduction. The number of Australian Councils involved in this program is clear evidence that at the government level Local Government is certainly doing its part.
April – water conservation
Local Government is calling on greater Federal Government assistance to ease mounting pressure on water infrastructure. Across the country, issues concerning water are coming to the fore and the clear message is that we must find better ways to preserve water supplies. The problem is being exacerbated with the deterioration of much of the existing water infrastructure built in the postwar period.
May – budget hopes
Running at 4.6 per cent, Australia has the lowest debt ratio to Gross Domestic Product compared to the USA, Japan and all other OECD nations. With enormous economic and social benefits from government spending on infrastructure, maybe the days of massive surpluses and a paranoia about debt are about to end.
June – asset management
A key issue raised at the International Asset Management Conference staged in Melbourne in May was that the old way of preparing budgets, of simply taking last year’s figures and adding or subtracting a few per cent, is no longer sustainable. Aptly described as looking in the rear vision mirror, delegates agreed that this must be discarded in favour of a strategic, forward looking, service driven approach.
July – Fair Share report
The long awaited response by the Australian Government to the Fair Share Report was tabled in Federal Parliament on 22 June. With cost shifting to Councils estimated to be between $500 million and $1.1 billion per year, official confirmation by the Federal Government that it will support many of the key recommendations of the Hawker Fair Share Report, particularly an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA), has been welcomed by Local Governments around the nation.
August – inclusive communities
Just as in 2001 when New York came under attack, and then Mayor Rudolf Guiliano’s leadership captured world attention, the statement by London’s Mayor Ken Livingstone, made on 7 July 2005, leaves us in no doubt about the vital role of those elected to Local Government. Mayor Livingstone stressed the importance of communities standing together to work through adversity and, above all, not turning in on each other.
September – skills shortage
We are all well aware that with the increasing retirement of baby boomers not only are we faced with an ageing community but a shrinking labour market and a skills shortage. Demographic changes over the past two or three decades, particularly our falling birthrate, means there is now a shortage of people to fill the vacancies as older workers retire. Added to this, the lure of seachange and early retirement is still strong and well. The net result is the lowest unemployment rate in 30 years, a rate many of us thought would never be achieved again. However, alongside this euphoria is a rapidly increasing skills shortage.
October – civil rights
This undermining of various rights we have taken for granted as part of our democratic system has gained some media attention and public debate. There are those who believe the terrorists have won by the mere fact that we have so easily given up rights that were fought so hard to achieve, and so quickly been willing to compromise our way of life. The fact that some groups in our community believe they will be unfairly singled out for greater attention and potential harassment is a major concern for Local Governments as they continue to strive for inclusive, fair, safe and harmonious communities.
November – security and democratic rights
We can only hope our Parliamentarians, most pointedly our State and Territory Governments, will take their role seriously. We are relying on them to preserve our inclusive, cohesive communities by protecting our democratic rights for all Australians. Laws that will divide and alienate are not good laws and therefore must be resisted.
