The theme for the Western Australian Local Government Association’s 2007 Convention was ‘Connecting Communities’. Staged in Perth from 4 to 6 August, issues addressed by a range of speakers and in focus groups included finding a balance between economic realities and the creative needs of communities, the evolving intergovernmental working relationships, and trends and attitudes to intergenerational changes in the workplace.
Speaking at the Annual General Meeting staged during the convention, the Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) President, Councillor Bill Mitchell, said that it has been an enormously challenging year.
“We’ve had three new Ministers during the year; a new election date; a new election process and major restructuring of Local Government across Australia,” he said.
“However, in spite of these significant changes and the changing faces within State Government, the Association on behalf of our members has been able to end the year in a strong position – more determined than ever to take charge of our own destiny.
“We are fortunate to have in place a State Local Government Partnership Agreement which the Government has committed to further developing and strengthening.
“It has not been an easy road and with the changes in Ministerial and Departmental staff it has flagged; however, the Minister for Local Government has committed to ensuring that the Partnership Agreement is honoured and achieves what it was designed for.”
Councillor Mitchell said that this is critical because it is the basis of the relationship and can only work when there is trust and respect by both parties.
“During the year we found ourselves faced with a State Government committed to implementing proportional preferential voting,” he said. “We fought hard but lost the fight. Now that the PPV has been put in place we need to ensure that the whole election process is as good as it can be and is the best for the sector.”
He also spoke about WALGA having recently launched the first tool to sustainability in the form of the WAAMI program, a whole of life depreciation and replacement program for Local Government infrastructure.
“I am still convinced that this will be a prerequisite for any Federal Community Infrastructure Fund,” Councillor Mitchell said. “This has been a tough year politically for the Association; a tough year for our members for a variety of reasons and this has created a commitment and resolve to build better partnerships/more productive partnerships with Government and to work towards continuing improvement in service delivery to our members.
“2008 will be a year of change for many and WALGA will continue to strive to support members through the challenges ahead and build confidence within the sector.”
