President of the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ), Councillor Paul Bell, has said the draft Queensland Local Government Act contains bold moves aimed at modernising and providing increasing flexibility for the operation of a diverse range of councils across Queensland.
Councillor Bell was speaking on the closing day of the recent 112th LGAQ annual conference in Cairns.
He said since the first Local Government Act in 1864, Queensland has had a history of giving Local Governments more power than the other States, and added that this new Act is a practical response to greater decentralisation.
“With this Act, we are on the cusp of a new era,” Councillor Bell said. “It is a fundamental plank of the reform of Local Government and we like what we are seeing. It’s bold, it’s contemporary and it meets most of the requirements of the Association and its members.”
The Director General of the Department of Local Government, Sport and Recreation, Michael Kinnane, told the conference he believed the Government would deliver on most of the recommendations made in the LGAQ’s formal submission.
It had also listened to councils throughout the State and would do more consultations between the introduction of a bill for the new Act in October and its final passage through State Parliament in March 2009.
Michael Kinnane said a review of the Brisbane City Council Act would begin in mid 2009 to ensure it is in line with the new Local Government Act.
